E/1999/22)
E/C.12/1998/26) Supp.2
COMMITTEE
ON ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND
CULTURAL
RIGHTS
REPORT ON THE EIGHTEENTH
AND NINETEENTH SESSIONS
(27 April_15 May 1998, 16
November_4 December 1998)
ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL
OFFICIAL RECORDS, 1999
SUPPLEMENT No. 2
UNITED NATIONS
New York and Geneva, 1999
NOTE
Symbols of United Nations
documents are composed of capital letters combined with figures. Mention of such a symbol indicates a
reference to a United Nations document.
|
E/1999/22 E/C.12/1998/26 |
CONTENTS
Paragraphs Page
ABBREVIATIONS............................................................. 6
Chapter
I. ORGANIZATIONAL AND OTHER MATTERS..................... 1-21
7
A. States parties to the
Covenant................... 1 7
B. Sessions and agenda.............................. 2-3 7
C. Membership and attendance........................ 4-7 7
D. Pre_sessional working group...................... 8-10
9
E. Officers of the Committee........................ 11
9
F. Organization of work............................. 12-16 10
G. Next session..................................... 17 11
H. States parties' reports
scheduled for
consideration by the
Committee at its
twentieth session................................ 18-19
11
I. Composition of the
pre_sessional working group... 20-21
11
Twentieth session................................ 20 11
Twenty_first session............................. 21 11
II. OVERVIEW OF THE PRESENT WORKING METHODS OF THE
COMMITTEE............................................
22-53 12
A. General guidelines for
reporting................. 24 12
B. Examination of States
parties' reports........... 25-38
12
1. Work of the pre_sessional working group...... 25-33 12
2. Presentation of the report...................
34-37 14
3. Deferrals of the presentation of reports..... 38 15
GE.99_40424 (E)
CONTENTS
(continued)
Chapter Paragraphs Page
II. C. Procedures in relation
to follow_up action....... 39-42 15
(cont'd)
D. Procedure in response to
non_submitted and
considerably overdue reports..................... 43-45 17
E. Day of general discussion........................ 46 17
F. Other consultations.............................. 47-49 18
G. General comments................................. 50-53 18
III. SUBMISSION OF REPORTS BY STATES PARTIES UNDER
ARTICLES 16 AND 17 OF THE COVENANT................. . 54-57 20
IV. CONSIDERATION OF REPORTS SUBMITTED BY STATES
PARTIES UNDER ARTICLES 16 AND 17 OF THE COVENANT..... 58-435 21
Eighteenth session
Sri Lanka........................................
65-94 22
Nigeria..........................................
95-138 27
Poland........................................... 139-166 32
Netherlands...................................... 167-226
37
Nineteenth session
Israel........................................... 227-272 43
Cyprus........................................... 273-299 50
Germany.......................................... 300-338
54
Switzerland...................................... 339-375
59
Canada........................................... 376-435 63
V. DAY OF GENERAL DISCUSSION............................ 436-514
72
A. Eighteenth session,
11 May 1998:
Globalization and its impact
on the enjoyment
of economic, social and
cultural rights.......... 436-461
72
B. Nineteenth session,
30 November 1998: The
right to education (articles
13 and 14 of the
International Covenant on
Economic, Social
and Cultural Rights)............................. 462-514 79
CONTENTS
(continued)
Chapter Paragraphs Page
VI. REVIEW OF METHODS OF WORK OF THE COMMITTEE........... 515-529 92
A. Decisions adopted by the
Committee at its
eighteenth session............................... 515-517
92
B. Decisions adopted by the
Committee at its
nineteenth session............................... 518-529
96
VII. ADOPTION OF THE REPORT............................... 530 101
Annexes
I. States parties to the Covenant and status of submission of
reports .................................................... 102
II. Membership of the Committee on Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights............................................. 114
III. A. Agenda of the eighteenth
session of the Committee
on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
(27 April_15 May 1998).................................. 115
B. Agenda of the nineteenth
session of the Committee
on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
(16 November_4 December 1998)........................... 115
IV. General Comment No. 9 (1998): Domestic application of the
Covenant.................................................... 117
V. General Comment No. 10 (1998): The role of national human
rights institutions in the protection of economic, social
and cultural rights......................................... 122
VI. A. List of States parties'
delegations which participated
in the consideration of their respective reports by the
Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights at its
eighteenth session...................................... 124
B. List of States parties'
delegations which participated
in the consideration of their respective reports by the
Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights at its
nineteenth session...................................... 126
VII. A. List of documents of the
Committee at its
eighteenth session...................................... 131
B. List of documents of the
Committee at its
nineteenth session...................................... 132
ABBREVIATIONS
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FAO GNP |
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Gross national product |
|
ILO |
International Labour Organization |
|
IMF |
International Monetary Fund |
|
MAI |
Multilateral Agreement on Investment |
|
NGLS |
Non‑Governmental Liaison Service |
|
OECD |
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development |
|
OHCHR TNCs |
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Transnational corporations |
|
UNCTAD |
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development |
|
UNDAF |
United Nations Development Assistance Framework |
|
UNDP |
United Nations Development Programme |
|
UNESCO UNHCR |
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees |
|
UNICEF |
United Nations Children's Fund |
|
WTO |
World Trade Organization |
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Chapter I
ORGANIZATIONAL AND OTHER
MATTERS
A. States parties to the Covenant
1. As at 4 December 1998, the closing date of the
nineteenth session of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights,
137 States had ratified or acceded to the International Covenant on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which was adopted by the
General Assembly in resolution 2200 A (XXI)
of 16 December 1966 and opened for signature and ratification in
New York on 19 December 1966. The Covenant entered into force on 3 January 1976 in
accordance with the provisions of its article 27. A list of States parties to the
Covenant is contained in annex I to the present report.
B. Sessions and agenda
2. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, at its
twelfth session, requested the Economic and Social Council to authorize
the holding of two annual sessions of the Committee, in May and
November_December, each of three weeks' duration, in addition to a
pre_sessional working group of five members to meet for five days
immediately after each session to prepare the list of issues for consideration
at the subsequent session. 1/ The
Economic and Social Council, by its resolution 1995/39 of
25 July 1995, endorsed the Committee's recommendation. Accordingly, in 1998, the Committee
held its eighteenth session from 27 April to 15 May and its
nineteenth session from 16 November to 4 December. Both sessions were held at the
United Nations Office at Geneva.
The agenda for each session is shown in annex III to the
present report.
3. An account of the Committee's deliberations at its eighteenth and
nineteenth sessions is contained in the relevant summary records
(E/C.12/1998/SR.1_28/Add.1 and E/C.12/1998/SR.29_57/Add.1, respectively).
C. Membership and attendance
4. All members of the Committee attended the eighteenth
session. Mr. Ivan Antanovich,
Mr. Oscar Ceville and Mr. Kenneth Osborne Rattray
attended only part of the session.
All members of the Committee except Mr. Ivan Antanovich and
Mr. Kenneth Osborne Rattray attended the nineteenth session.
5. The following specialized agencies and United Nations organs
were represented by observers at the eighteenth session: FAO, ILO, IMF, UNCTAD, UNDP, UNESCO, UNHCR, WHO and WIPO; and at
the nineteenth session: ILO,
UNCTAD, UNDP, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNICEF, WHO and WIPO.
6. The following non‑governmental organizations in
consultative status with the Economic and Social Council were represented
by observers at the eighteenth session:
General consultative status: International
Confederation of Free Trade Unions, World Federation of
United Nations Associations
Special consultative status: American
Association of Jurists, Habitat International Coalition, International
Commission of Jurists, International Federation of Human Rights Leagues,
International Organization for the Development of Freedom of Education,
International Service for Human Rights, OXFAM
Roster: American
Association for the Advancement of Science, FIAN _ Foodfirst Information and
Action Network, International Baccalaureate Organization
and at the nineteenth session:
General consultative status: International
Confederation of Free Trade Unions, World Federation of United Nations
Associations
Special consultative status: American
Association of Jurists, Habitat International Coalition, International
Commission of Jurists, International Federation of Human Rights Leagues,
International Federation Terre des Hommes, International Organization for the
Development of Freedom of Education, International Service for Human Rights,
Women's International League for Peace and Freedom
Roster: American
Association for the Advancement of Science, FIAN _ Foodfirst Information and
Action Network, International Baccalaureate Organization.
7. The following international and national non_governmental
organizations were also represented by observers at the
eighteenth session: Arab Studies
Society (Israel); Palestine Human Rights Information Centre (Israel); and
at the nineteenth session: Centre
for Housing Rights and Evictions (Switzerland); Federation for Women and Family
Planning (Poland); Home for Human Rights (Sri Lanka); International
Baccalaureate Organization, National Student Organisation (Netherlands);
Shelter Rights Initiative (Nigeria); Tamil Centre for Human Rights
(Sri Lanka).
D. Pre_sessional working group
8. The Economic and Social Council, in its resolution 1988/4
of 24 May 1988, authorized the establishment of a pre_sessional
working group composed of five members to be appointed by
the Chairperson to meet for up to one week prior to each
session. By decision 1990/252 of
25 May 1990, the Council authorized the meetings of the working group
to be held one to three months prior to a session of the Committee.
9. The Chairperson of the Committee, in consultation with the
members of the Bureau, designated the following individuals as members of
the pre_sessional working group to meet:
Prior
to the eighteenth session:
Mr.
Abdessatar GRISSA
Mr.
Ariranga PILLAY
Mr.
Valeri KOUZNETSOV
Mr.
Walid M. SADI
Mr.
Javier WIMER ZAMBRANO
Prior
to the nineteenth session:
Ms.
Virginia BONOAN_DANDAN
Mr.
Samir AHMED
Ms.
María de los Ángeles JIM_NEZ BUTRAGUEÑO
Mr.
Valeri KOUZNETSOV
Mr.
Oscar CEVILLE.
10. The pre_sessional working group held its meetings at the
United Nations Office at Geneva from 8 to 12 December 1997
and from 18 to 22 May 1998, respectively. All members of the working group, except
Mr. Kenneth Osborne Rattray, attended its meetings. The working group identified issues that
might most usefully be discussed with the representatives of the reporting
States and lists of such questions were transmitted to the permanent missions
of the States concerned.
E. Officers of the Committee
11. The following members of the Committee, elected for a term of
two years in accordance with rule 14 of the Committee's rules of
procedure, continued to serve as members of the Committee's Bureau:
Chairperson: Mr. Philip ALSTON
Vice_Chairpersons: Mr. Abdessatar GRISSA
Mr.
Dumitru CEAUSU
Mr.
Kenneth Osborne RATTRAY
Rapporteur: Ms. Virginia
BONOAN_DANDAN.
F. Organization of work
Eighteenth
session
12. The Committee considered its organization of work at its
1st meeting on 27 April, 9th meeting on 1 May and
28th meeting on 15 May 1998.
In connection with this item, the Committee had before it the following
documents:
(a) Draft programme of work for the
eighteenth session, prepared by the Secretary‑General in
consultation with the Chairperson of the Committee (E/C.12/1998/L.1);
(b) Reports of the Committee on the work of its
first (E/1987/28), second (E/1988/14), third (E/1989/22), fourth (E/1990/23),
fifth (E/1991/23), sixth (E/1992/23), seventh (E/1993/22), eighth and
ninth (E/1994/23), tenth and eleventh (E/1995/22), twelfth and
thirteenth (E/1996/22), fourteenth and fifteenth (E/1997/22) and sixteenth
and seventeenth sessions (E/1998/22).
13. In accordance with rule 8 of its rules of procedure, the
Committee, at its 1st meeting on 27 April 1998, considered the
draft programme of work for its eighteenth session and approved it, as
amended during consideration (see E/C.12/1998/L.1/Rev.1).
Nineteenth
session
14. The Committee considered its organization of work at its
29th meeting on 16 November and at its 51st meeting on
1 December 1998. In
connection with this item, the Committee had before it the following documents:
(a) Draft programme of work for the
nineteenth session, prepared by the Secretary‑General in
consultation with the Chairperson of the Committee (E/C.12/1998/L.2);
(b) Reports of the Committee on the work of its
first (E/1987/28), second (E/1988/14), third (E/1989/22),
fourth (E/1990/23), fifth (E/1991/23), sixth (E/1992/23),
seventh (E/1993/22), eighth and ninth (E/1994/23), tenth and eleventh
(E/1995/22), twelfth and thirteenth (E/1996/22), fourteenth and fifteenth
(E/1997/22) and sixteenth and seventeenth sessions (E/1998/22).
15. In accordance with rule 8 of its rules of procedure, the
Committee, at its 29th meeting on 16 November 1998, considered
the draft programme of work for its nineteenth session and approved it, as
amended during consideration (see E/C.12/1998/L.2/Rev.1).
16. Owing to budgetary constraints in recent years the Committee has
faced serious shortages in the staff servicing its mandate. Nevertheless, Mr. Philip Alston,
Chairperson of the Committee, wished to express his deep appreciation to the
Committee's secretariat which, despite such a lack of staff, has allowed the
Committee efficiently to carry out its mandate.
G. Next session
17. In accordance with the established schedule, the twentieth and
twenty_first sessions would take place from 26 April to
14 May 1999 and from 15 November to
3 December 1999, respectively.
H. States parties' reports scheduled for
consideration
by the Committee at its
twentieth session
18. The Committee, at its 57th meeting on
4 December 1998, decided that the following States parties'
reports would be considered at its twentieth session:
Initial reports concerning
articles 1 to 15 of the Covenant
Ireland E/1990/5/Add.34
Second periodic reports
concerning articles 1 to 15 of the Covenant
Tunisia E/1990/6/Add.14
Iceland E/1990/6/Add.15
Third periodic reports concerning
articles 1 to 15 of the Covenant
Denmark E/1994/104/Add.15
Bulgaria E/1994/104/Add.16
19. The Committee also decided that it would review the implementation
of the provisions of the Covenant in Solomon Islands, which had not
submitted any report at all since its ratification of the Covenant, on the
basis of any information that might be available to the Committee.
I. Composition of the pre_sessional working group
Twentieth
session
20. The Chairperson of the Committee designated the following
members to serve on the pre_sessional working group: Ms. M. Jiménez Butragueño,
Mr. V. Kouznetsov,
Mr. J. Marchán Romero, Mr. A.G. Pillay and
Mr. W.M. Sadi.
Twenty_first
session
21. The Chairperson of the Committee designated the following
members to serve on the pre_sessional working group: Ms. V. Bonoan‑Dandan,
Ms. M. Jiménez Butragueño, Mr. A. Grissa,
Mr. V. Kouznetsov and Mr. J. Wimer Zambrano.
Chapter II
OVERVIEW OF THE PRESENT WORKING
METHODS OF THE COMMITTEE
22. This chapter of the Committee's report aims at providing a concise
and up‑to‑date overview and explanation of the ways in which the
Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights carries out its various
functions. It is designed to make the
Committee's current practice more transparent and readily accessible so as to
assist States parties and others interested in the implementation of the
Covenant.
23. Since its first session, in 1987, the Committee has made a
concerted effort to devise appropriate working methods which adequately reflect
the nature of the tasks with which it has been entrusted. In the course of
its nineteen sessions it has sought to modify and develop these
methods in the light of its experience.
These methods will continue to evolve.
A. General guidelines for reporting
24. The Committee attaches major importance to the need to structure
the reporting process and the dialogue with each State party's representatives
in such a way as to ensure that the issues of principal concern to it are dealt
with in a methodical and informative manner.
For this purpose, the Committee has adopted detailed reporting
guidelines 2/ with a view to assisting States
in the reporting process and improving the effectiveness of the monitoring
system as a whole. The Committee
strongly urges all States parties to report to it in accordance with the
guidelines to the greatest extent possible.
The Committee keeps its guidelines under review and they are updated
when appropriate.
B. Examination of States parties' reports
1. Work of the pre‑sessional working
group
25. A pre‑sessional working group meets, for five days, prior to
each of the Committee's sessions. It is
composed of five members of the Committee nominated by the Chairperson, taking
account of the desirability of a balanced geographical distribution and other
relevant factors.
26. The principal purpose of the working group is to identify in
advance the questions which will constitute the principal focus of the dialogue
with the representatives of the reporting States. The aim is to improve the efficiency of the system and to ease
the task of States' representatives by facilitating more focused preparations
for the discussion. 3/
27. It is generally accepted that the complex nature and diverse range
of many of the issues raised in connection with the implementation of the
Covenant constitute a strong argument in favour of providing States parties
with the possibility of preparing in advance to answer some of the principal
questions arising out of their reports.
Such an arrangement also enhances the likelihood that the State party
will be able to provide precise and detailed information.
28. With regard to its own working methods, the working group, in the
interests of efficiency, allocates to each of its members initial
responsibility for undertaking a detailed review of a specific number of
reports and for putting before the group a preliminary list of issues. The decision as to how the reports should be
allocated for this purpose is based in part on the areas of expertise of the
member concerned. Each draft by a
country rapporteur is then revised and supplemented on the basis of
observations by the other members of the group and the final version of the
list is adopted by the group as a whole.
This procedure applies equally to both initial and periodic reports.
29. In preparation for the pre‑sessional working group, the
Committee has asked the Secretariat to place at the disposal of its members a
country profile as well as all pertinent documents containing information
relevant to each of the reports to be examined. For this purpose, the Committee invites all concerned
individuals, bodies and non‑governmental organizations to submit relevant
and appropriate documentation to the Secretariat. It has also asked the Secretariat to ensure that certain types of
information are regularly placed in the country files.
30. In order to ensure that the Committee is as well informed as
possible, it provides opportunities for non‑governmental organizations to
submit relevant information to it. They
may do this in writing at any time. The
Committee's pre‑sessional working group is also open to the submission of
information in person or in writing from any non‑governmental
organizations, provided that it relates to matters on the agenda of the working
group. In addition, the Committee sets
aside part of the first afternoon at each of its sessions to enable
representatives of non‑governmental organizations to provide oral
information. Such information
should: (a) focus specifically on
the provisions of the International Covenant on Economic, Social
and Cultural Rights; (b) be of direct relevance to matters under
consideration by the Committee; (c) be reliable; (d) not be
abusive. The relevant meeting is open
and provided with interpretation and press services, but is not covered by
summary records.
31. The Committee has requested the Secretariat to ensure that any
written information formally submitted to it by individuals or non‑governmental
organizations in relation to the consideration of a specific State party report
is made available as soon as possible to the representative of the State
concerned. The Committee therefore
assumes that if any of this information is referred to during the dialogue with
the State party, the latter will already be aware of the information.
32. The lists of issues drawn up by the working group are given
directly to a representative of the States concerned, along with a copy of the
Committee's most recent report and with a note stating the following:
“The list is not intended to be exhaustive and it should not be
interpreted as limiting or in any other way prejudging the type and range of
questions which members of the Committee might wish to ask. However, the Committee believes that the
constructive dialogue which it wishes to have with the representatives of the
State party is greatly facilitated by making the list available in advance of
the Committee's session. In order to
improve the dialogue that the Committee seeks, it strongly urges each State
party to provide in writing its replies to the list of issues and to do so
sufficiently in advance of the session at which its report will be considered
to enable the replies to be translated and made available to all members of the
Committee.”
33. In addition to the task of formulating the lists of issues, the
pre‑sessional working group is also entrusted with a variety of other
tasks designed to facilitate the work of the Committee as a whole. These have included: discussing the most appropriate allocation
of time for the consideration of each State report; considering the issue of
how best to
respond to supplementary
reports containing additional information; examining draft general comments;
considering how best to structure the day of general discussion; and other
relevant matters.
2. Presentation of the report
34. In accordance with the established practice of each of the
United Nations human rights treaty monitoring bodies, representatives of
the reporting States are entitled, and indeed are strongly encouraged, to be
present at the meetings of the Committee when their reports are examined. The following procedure is generally
followed. The representative of the
State party is invited to introduce the report by making brief introductory
comments and introducing any written replies to the list of issues drawn up by
the pre‑sessional working group.
The Committee then considers the report on an article_by_article basis,
taking particular account of the replies furnished in response to the list of
issues. The Chairperson will normally
invite questions or comments from Committee members in relation to each issue
and then invite the representatives of the State party to reply immediately to
questions that do not require further reflection or research. Other questions remaining to be answered are
taken up at a subsequent meeting or, if necessary, may be the subject of
additional information provided to the Committee in writing. Members of the Committee are free to pursue
specific issues in the light of the replies thus provided, although the
Committee has urged them not to (a) raise issues outside the scope of the
Covenant; (b) repeat questions already posed or answered; (c) add unduly
to an already long list on a particular issue; or (d) speak more than five
minutes in any one intervention. The
Chairperson and/or individual members may, if necessary, intervene concisely to
indicate whenever the dialogue seems to be going off on a tangent, when
responses seem to be taking an unduly long time, or when answers lack the
necessary focus and precision.
Representatives of relevant specialized agencies and other international
bodies may also be invited to contribute at any stage of the dialogue.
35. The final phase of the Committee's examination of the report
consists of the drafting and adoption of its concluding observations. For this purpose, the Committee usually sets
aside a brief period, the day after the conclusion of the dialogue in closed
session, to enable its members to express their preliminary views. The country rapporteur then prepares, with
the assistance of the Secretariat, a draft set of concluding observations for
consideration by the Committee. The
agreed structure of the concluding observations is as follows: introduction; positive aspects; factors and
difficulties impeding the implementation of the Covenant; principal subjects of
concern; and suggestions and recommendations.
At a later stage, the Committee then discusses the draft, again in
private session, with a view to adopting it by consensus.
36. The concluding observations once formally adopted are usually not
made public until the final day of the session, although exceptions may be made
when appropriate. As soon as they are
made public, they are available to all interested parties. They are forwarded as soon as possible to
the State party concerned and included in the Committee's report. If it so wishes, the State party may address
any of the Committee's concluding observations in the context of any additional
information which it provides to the Committee.
37. In general, the Committee devotes three meetings (of three hours
each) to its public examination of each global report (dealing with arts. 1‑15). In addition, it generally devotes between
two and three hours towards the end of the session, in private, to its
discussion of each set of concluding observations.
3. Deferrals of the presentation of reports
38. Last‑minute requests by States to defer the presentation of
a report which has been scheduled for consideration at a particular session are
extremely disruptive for all concerned and have caused major problems for the
Committee in the past. Accordingly, the
Committee's long_standing policy is not to grant such requests and to proceed
with its consideration of all scheduled reports, even in the absence of a
representative of the State concerned.
C. Procedures in relation to follow‑up action
39. In situations in which the Committee considers that additional
information is necessary to enable it to continue its dialogue with the State party
concerned, there are several options that might be pursued:
(a) The Committee might note that specific issues
should be addressed in a detailed manner in the State party's next periodic
report;
(b) The Committee might take note specifically of
the State party's stated intention to submit additional information in writing,
particularly in response to questions posed by the members of the Committee;
(c) The Committee might specifically request that
additional information, relating to matters that it would identify, be
submitted to the Committee within six months, thus enabling it to be considered
by the pre‑sessional working group.
In general, the working group could recommend one or another of the
following responses to the Committee:
(i) That it take note of such information;
(ii) That it adopt
specific concluding observations in response to that information;
(iii) That the matter
be pursued through a request for further information; or
(iv) That the
Committee's Chairperson be authorized to inform the State party, in advance of
the next session, that the Committee would take up the issue at its next
session and that, for that purpose, the participation of a representative of
the State party in the work of the Committee would be welcome;
(d) The Committee might determine that the
receipt of additional information is urgent and request that it be provided
within a given time limit (perhaps two to three months). In such a case, the Chairperson, in consultation
with the members of the Bureau, could be authorized to follow up the matter
with the State party if no response is received or if the response is patently
unsatisfactory.
40. In situations in which the Committee considers that it is unable
to obtain the information it requires on the basis of the above‑mentioned
procedures, it may decide to adopt a different approach instead. In particular, the Committee may request
that the State party concerned accept a mission consisting of one or two
members of the Committee. Such a
decision would be taken only after the Committee had satisfied itself that
there was no adequate alternative approach available to it and that the
information in its possession warranted such an approach. The purposes of such an on‑site visit
would be: (a) to collect the
information necessary for the Committee to continue its constructive dialogue
with the State party and to enable it to carry out its functions in relation to
the Covenant; (b) to provide a more comprehensive basis upon which the
Committee might exercise its functions in relation to articles 22 and 23 of the
Covenant concerning technical assistance and advisory services. The Committee would state specifically the
issue(s) with respect to which its representative(s) would seek to gather
information from all available sources.
The representative(s) would also have the task of considering whether
the programme of advisory services administered by the Office of the United
Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights could be of assistance in connection
with the specific issue at hand.
41. At the conclusion of the visit, the representative(s) would report
to the Committee. In the light of the
report presented by its representative(s), the Committee would then formulate
its own conclusions. Those conclusions
would relate to the full range of functions carried out by the Committee,
including those relating to technical assistance and advisory services.
42. This procedure has already been applied in relation to two States
parties and the Committee considers the experience to have been a very positive
one in both instances. In a case where
the State party concerned did not accept the proposed mission, the Committee
would consider making whatever recommendations might be appropriate to the
Economic and Social Council.
D. Procedure in response to non‑submitted
and considerably overdue reports
43. The Committee believes that a situation of persistent non‑reporting
by States parties risks bringing the entire supervisory procedure into
disrepute, thereby undermining one of the foundations of the Covenant.
44. Accordingly, the Committee resolved at its sixth session to begin
in due course to consider the situation concerning the implementation of the
Covenant in respect of each State party whose reports are very
significantly overdue. At its seventh
session it resolved to begin scheduling consideration of such reports at its
future sessions and to notify the States parties concerned. It began to apply this procedure at its
ninth session.
45. The Committee has adopted the following procedure:
(a) To select States parties whose reports are
very much overdue on the basis of the length of time involved;
(b) To notify each such State party that the
Committee intends to consider the situation with respect to that country at a
specified future session;
(c) To move, in the absence of any report, to
consider the status of economic, social and cultural rights in the light of all
available information;
(d) To authorize its Chairperson, in situations
where the State party concerned indicates that a report will be provided to the
Committee and upon a request from the State party, to defer consideration of
the situation for one session, but not longer.
E. Day of general discussion
46. At each session, the Committee devotes one day, usually the Monday
of the third week, to a general discussion of a particular right or of a
particular aspect of the Covenant. The
purpose is twofold: the day assists the
Committee in developing in greater depth its understanding of the relevant
issues; and it enables the Committee to encourage inputs into its work from all
interested parties. The following
issues have been the focus of discussion:
the right to adequate food (third session); the right to housing (fourth
session); economic and social indicators (sixth session); the right to take
part in cultural life (seventh session); the rights of the ageing and elderly
(eighth session); the right to health (ninth session); the role of social
safety nets (tenth session); human rights education (eleventh session); the
interpretation and practical application of the obligations incumbent on States
parties (twelfth session); a draft optional protocol to the Covenant
(thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth sessions); revision of the general
guidelines for reporting (sixteenth session); the normative content of the
right to food (seventeenth session); globalization and its impact on the
enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights (eighteenth session); and the
right to education (nineteenth session).
F. Other consultations
47. The Committee has sought to coordinate its activities with those
of other bodies to the greatest extent possible and to draw as widely as it can
on available expertise in the fields of its competence. For this purpose, it has consistently
invited individuals such as special rapporteurs of the
Sub‑Commission on
Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, chairpersons of
Commission on Human Rights working groups and others to address it and engage
in discussions.
48. The Committee has also sought to draw on the expertise of the
relevant specialized agencies and United Nations organs, both in its work
as a whole and, more particularly, in the context of its general discussions.
49. In addition, the Committee has invited a variety of experts who
have a particular interest in, and knowledge of, some of the issues under
review to contribute to its discussions.
These contributions have added considerably to its understanding of some
aspects of the questions arising under the Covenant.
G. General comments
50. In response to an invitation addressed to it by the Economic and
Social Council, the Committee decided to begin, as from its third session, the
preparation of general comments based on the various articles and provisions
of the International
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights with a view to assisting the
States parties in fulfilling their reporting obligations.
51. By the end of its nineteenth session, the Committee and the Sessional
Working Group of Governmental Experts which existed prior to the creation of
the Committee had examined 153 initial reports, 71 second periodic reports
concerning rights covered by articles 6 to 9, 10 to 12 and 13 to 15 of the
Covenant, and 56 global reports. This
work covered a significant number of the States parties to the Covenant, which
totalled 137 at the end of the nineteenth session. They represented all regions of the world, with different
political, legal, socio‑economic and cultural systems. Their reports submitted so far had
illustrated many of the problems which might arise in implementing the
Covenant, although they had not yet provided any complete picture of the global
situation with regard to the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights.
52. The Committee endeavours, through its general comments, to make
the experience gained so far through the examination of States' reports
available for the benefit of all States parties in order to assist and promote
their further implementation of the Covenant; to draw the attention of the
States parties to insufficiencies disclosed by a large number of reports; to
suggest improvements in the reporting procedures; and to stimulate the
activities of the States parties, international organizations and the
specialized agencies concerned in achieving progressively and effectively the
full realization of the rights recognized in the Covenant. Whenever necessary, the Committee may, in
the light of the experience of States parties and of the conclusions drawn
therefrom, revise and update its general comments.
53. The Committee has so far adopted the following general
comments: General Comment No. 1
(1989) on reporting by States parties; General Comment No. 2 (1990)
on international technical assistance measures; General Comment No. 3
(1990) on the nature of States parties' obligations (art. 2, para. 1, of the
Covenant); General Comment No. 4 (1991) on the right to adequate housing
(art. 11, para. 1, of the Covenant); General Comment No. 5 (1994) on
the rights of persons with disabilities; General Comment No. 6 (1995)
on the economic, social and cultural rights of older persons; General Comment
No. 7 (1997) on the right to adequate housing (art. 11, para. 1,
of the Covenant): forced evictions; General
Comment No. 8 (1997) on the relationship between economic sanctions and
respect for economic, social and cultural rights; General Comment No. 9 (1998)
on domestic application of the Covenant; and General Comment No. 10 (1998) on
the role of national human rights institutions in the protection of economic,
social and cultural rights.
Chapter III
SUBMISSION OF REPORTS BY STATES
PARTIES UNDER
ARTICLES 16 AND 17 OF THE
COVENANT
54. In accordance with rule 58 of its rules of procedure, the
Committee, at its 57th meeting on 4 December 1998, considered the
status of submission of reports under articles 16 and 17 of the Covenant.
55. In that connection, the Committee had before it the following
documents:
(a) Note by the Secretary‑General on the
revised general guidelines regarding the form and contents of reports to be
submitted by States parties (E/C.12/1991/1);
(b) Note by the Secretary‑General on States
parties to the Covenant and the status of submission of reports as at
15 July 1998 (E/C.12/1998/10);
(c) Note by the Secretariat on follow_up to the
consideration of reports under articles 16 and 17 of the Covenant
(E/C.12/1998/12).
56. The Secretary‑General informed the Committee that, in
addition to the reports scheduled for consideration by the Committee at
its nineteenth session (see para. 61 below), he had received, as at
4 December 1998, the reports submitted under articles 16
and 17 of the Covenant by the following States parties:
Third
periodic reports of Cyprus (E/1994/104/Add.12) and Poland (E/1994/104/Add.13);
initial report of Switzerland (E/1990/5/Add.33); third periodic report of
Germany (E/1994/104/Add.14); second periodic report of Tunisia
(E/1990/6/Add.14); third periodic reports of Denmark (E/1994/104/Add.15) and
Bulgaria (E/1994/104/Add.16); initial report of Ireland (E/1990/5/Add.34);
second periodic report of Iceland (E/1990/6/Add.15); initial report of Cameroon
(E/1990/5/Add.35); second periodic report of Argentina (E/1990/6/Add.16); third
periodic report of Canada (E/1994/104/Add.17); initial report of Armenia
(E/1990/5/Add.36); third periodic report of Mexico (E/1994/104/Add.18);
initial report of Georgia (E/1990/5/Add.37); third periodic reports of Italy
(E/1994/104/Add.19) and Portugal (E/1994/104/Add.20); initial reports of Egypt
(E/1990/5/Add.38) and Israel (E/1990/5/Add.39); second periodic reports of
Jordan (E/1990/6/Add.17) and Belgium (E/1990/6/Add.18); initial report of
Honduras (E/1990/5/Add.40); third periodic report of Mongolia
(E/1994/104/Add.21); initial reports of Sudan (E/1990/5/Add.41) and Kyrgyzstan
(E/1990/5/Add.42); third periodic report of Australia (E/1994/104/Add.22); and
second periodic reports of Venezuela (E/1990/6/Add.19), Morocco
(E/1990/6/Add.20) and Japan (E/1990/6/Add.21).
57. In accordance with rule 57, paragraph 1, of the Committee's
rules of procedure, a list of States parties together with an indication of the
status of submission of their reports is contained in annex I to the present
report.
Chapter IV
CONSIDERATION OF REPORTS SUBMITTED
BY STATES PARTIES
UNDER ARTICLES 16 AND 17 OF
THE COVENANT
Eighteenth
session
58. At its eighteenth session, the Committee examined six reports
submitted by four States parties under articles 16 and 17 of the
Covenant. It devoted 24 of the
28 meetings it held during the eighteenth session to the
consideration of these matters.
59. The reports before the Committee at its eighteenth session were
the following:
Initial
reports concerning articles 1 to 15 of the Covenant
Nigeria E/1990/5/Add.31
Sri
Lanka E/1990/5/Add.32
Second
periodic reports concerning articles 1 to 15 of the Covenant
Netherlands E/1990/6/Add.11
E/1990/6/Add.12
E/1990/6/Add.13
Third
periodic reports concerning articles 1 to 15 of the Covenant
Poland E/1994/104/Add.13
60. In accordance with rule 62 of the Committee's rules of procedure,
representatives of all the reporting States were invited to participate in the
meetings of the Committee when their reports were examined. All the States parties whose reports were
considered by the Committee sent representatives to participate in the
examination of their respective reports.
Nineteenth
session
61. At its nineteenth session, the Committee examined
five reports submitted by five States parties under articles 16
and 17 of the Covenant It devoted
22 of the 29 meetings it held
during the nineteenth session to the consideration of these matters.
62. The following reports were before the Committee at its nineteenth
session:
Initial
reports concerning articles 1 to 15 of the Covenant
Switzerland E/1990/5/Add.33
Israel E/1990/5/Add.39
Third
periodic reports concerning articles 1 to 15 of the Covenant
Cyprus E/1994/104/Add.12
Germany E/1994/104/Add.14
Canada E/1994/104/Add.17
63. In accordance with rule 62 of the Committee's rules of procedure,
representatives of all the reporting States were invited to participate in the
meetings of the Committee when their reports were examined. All the States parties whose reports were considered
by the Committee sent representatives to participate in the examination of
their respective reports. In accordance
with a decision adopted by the Committee at its second session, the names and
positions of the members of each State party's delegation are listed in
annex VI to the present report.
64. At its eighth session the Committee had decided to discontinue its
practice of including in its annual report summaries of the consideration of
country reports. In accordance with
modified rule 57 of the Committee's rules of procedure, the annual report
should contain, inter alia, the concluding observations of the
Committee relating to each State party's report. Accordingly, the following paragraphs, arranged on a
country_by_country basis according to the sequence followed by the Committee in
its consideration of the reports, contain the concluding observations adopted
by the Committee with respect to the States parties' reports considered at its
eighteenth and nineteenth sessions.
Eighteenth
session
SRI LANKA
65. The Committee considered the initial report of Sri Lanka on the
rights covered by articles 1 to 15 of the Covenant (E/1990/5/Add.32), together
with the written replies to the list of questions, at its 3rd to 5th meetings,
held on 28 and 29 April 1998 and, at its 25th meeting on 13 May
1998, adopted the following concluding observations.
A. Introduction
66. The Committee welcomes the submission of the initial report of
Sri Lanka which generally conforms to its guidelines on the preparation of
reports. The Committee expresses
appreciation for the frank and constructive dialogue with representatives of
the State party and for additional information presented during the dialogue.
B. Positive aspects
67. The Committee notes with satisfaction the desire expressed by the
Government of Sri Lanka to promote the economic, social and cultural
rights of its citizens in spite of the armed conflict in the country. It notes with appreciation the numerous
international agencies involved in humanitarian assistance in cooperation with
the Government of Sri Lanka.
68. The Committee notes with appreciation that in spite of its
relatively low per capita income, Sri Lanka has achieved progress in
providing essential social services including free and compulsory education for
all up to the age of 16, free health care, and food subsidies and
supplements for targeted vulnerable groups.
This has resulted in a higher UNDP Human Development Index rating in
relation to other countries in the same income group.
C. Factors and difficulties impeding the
implementation of the Covenant
69. The Committee recognizes that the prolonged period of violence and
conflict that has affected Sri Lanka since 1983 has hampered the
realization of economic, social and cultural rights in the country. The conflict has resulted in large‑scale
internal displacement of people, hindered government efforts to provide
essential services in the affected areas, and diverted resources from social
and development objectives.
D. Principal subjects of concern
The
armed conflict between the Government and the Liberation Tigers of
Tamil Eelam (LTTE)
70. The Committee regrets that its dialogue with representatives of
the State party regarding the root causes of the armed conflict was
inconclusive; the absence in the report of statistics relating to the north and
east of the country can only reinforce the view of the Committee that the
question of discrimination in relation to the economic, social and cultural
rights of ethnic groups remains the central issue in the armed conflict in
Sri Lanka. In this regard, the
Committee notes with concern that the Government's peace plan, consisting of
devolution of authority to regional governments through constitutional reform,
has not been implemented. Although it
has been more than three years since the plan was introduced, the
timetable for its implementation, as well as for a referendum to determine
public acceptance, remains unclear.
71. The Committee expresses its grave concern regarding the situation
of an estimated 800,000 persons displaced because of the armed conflict,
many of whom have been living in temporary shelters for the past 15 years and
who lack basic sanitation, education, food, clothing and health care. It is reported that Tamil families who were
forced by the military to leave their ancestral villages in the Welioya region
are among the displaced. The Committee
is alarmed by the results of an independent survey which estimated the
incidence of undernourishment of women and children living in temporary
shelters to be as high as 70 per cent, and by reports that in many
cases food assistance did not reach the intended beneficiaries.
Discrimination
72. The Committee notes with concern the uncertain situation
of 85,000 Tamils of Indian origin living in Sri Lanka. They possess neither Indian nor
Sri Lankan citizenship, have no access to basic services such as
education, and do not enjoy their economic, social and cultural rights.
73. The Committee notes with concern the existence of disparities
between statutory law and customary law.
The age for marriage in statutory law is 18 years but girls as
young as 12 years of age are able to marry under customary law, as long as
the parents consent. The Committee is
of the view that the practice of early marriage has negative impacts on the
right to health, right to education and the right to work, particularly of the
girl child. In statutory law, there is
equality of inheritance among siblings while customary law discriminates against
married women who, unlike married men, may not inherit family property. In allowing customary law to prevail over
statutory law in this regard, the Government is not complying with its
obligation to protect the rights of women against discrimination.
74. The Committee further notes with concern that existing legislation
discriminates against children born out of wedlock who may inherit only from
their mother. This legislation violates
the rights set forth in article 10 of the Covenant.
75. The Committee expresses its deep concern at the lack of anti‑discrimination
mechanisms in the area of employment with regard to women and minority
groups. The Committee notes that while
a system of ethnic recruitment quotas is in place in the public sector, there
is no effort to ensure that promotions in the public sector and employment in
the private sector are free from discrimination. In particular, the concept of equal pay for work of equal value
is not applied effectively in Sri Lanka, particularly in the private
sector where women have no legal protection against discrimination in
employment.
Women
and children
76. The Committee deplores the Government’s inability to implement its
child labour laws effectively.
Thousands of children are known to be fully employed, while thousands
more are working as domestic servants in urban areas where many are mistreated,
sexually abused and driven to prostitution.
In addition, the Committee is deeply concerned about the sexual
exploitation of Sri Lankan children by foreign tourists. The Committee regrets that detailed
information on the magnitude of the problem was not provided. The Committee regrets further that the
report of the State party does not provide a satisfactory indication of how
serious the Government's efforts to protect the rights of these children
are. The Committee notes with
particular regret that more than 50 per cent of prostitutes are
children.
77. The Committee notes with concern the plight of hundreds of
thousands of Sri Lankan women working abroad as domestic helpers, many of
them underpaid and treated as virtual slaves.
The Committee regrets that the Government has not made a serious effort
to assess the negative impact of this phenomenon on children who are left in
vulnerable and difficult circumstances without their mothers and to take
appropriate remedial measures.
78. The Committee notes that Sri Lanka not only has the second
highest rate of suicide among youth in the world, but a rising incidence of
drug and alcohol dependence, adolescent crime, child abuse, sexual disorders
and domestic violence against women.
The Committee expresses its deep regret that the Government has failed
to comply with its obligation under article 10 of the Covenant (concerning
protection of the family) and article 12.
The
right to an adequate standard of living
79. The Committee notes with grave concern the information from UNDP
that 22 per cent of the population of Sri Lanka lives in
poverty, and that many women and children are suffering from malnutrition. It also notes with grave concern the information
regarding the continued acute shortages of adequate housing and construction
materials for homes in need of repair.
The Committee further notes the lack of updated information on the
measures implemented by the Government in accordance with its obligations under
article 11 of the Covenant.
Other
concerns
80. The Committee also notes with concern that inadequate efforts
appear to have been made by the Government to promote awareness among the
women of Sri Lanka of their human rights.
81. The Committee is concerned that the Constitution does not
expressly recognize the right to strike and imposes vague restrictions on the
right to form trade unions, which would lead to penalties being arbitrarily
imposed on workers who exercise these rights.
82. The Committee notes with concern that the current policy allowing
industry‑specific wage boards to determine minimum wages does not protect
workers in the smaller industries which are not part of the wage board system.
83. The Committee expresses concern that the distinction contained in
the current Constitution between “citizens” and “other persons” with respect to
the right to equality, has not been removed from the proposed revised
Constitution currently before Parliament.
84. The Committee notes with concern the uncertain situation
concerning demolition of houses and illegal settlements in Sri Lanka.
E. Suggestions and recommendations
85. The Committee is fully aware of the human and material costs of
the armed conflict in Sri Lanka and the deleterious effects this has on
the economic, social and cultural rights of every person living in the
country. In the hope of a just, speedy
and peaceful solution to the war, the Committee urges the Government, as a matter
of the highest priority, to negotiate the acceptance by all concerned of its
proposed peace plan involving devolution of authority to regional
governments. The Committee requests the
State party to include in its next report detailed information on how the
process of devolution of authority affects the enjoyment of economic, social
and cultural rights throughout the country.
In this regard, the Committee reiterates that it attaches great
importance to the gathering of relevant data, disaggregated by all factors
including gender, age, ethnicity and nationality, which may help identify
vulnerable groups in society. The
Committee requests that such data be made available to it in the next report of
the State party.
86. The Committee strongly recommends that the Government establish
mechanisms to facilitate the flow of humanitarian assistance and to strictly
monitor and ensure that the intended recipients actually receive the
assistance. In particular, the
Committee urges the Government to seek further international assistance in its
efforts to provide permanent housing to displaced persons who have been living
in “temporary” shelters since the war began 15 years ago. It is further recommended that the
Government reassess the food assistance programme already in place in affected
areas with a view to improving the nutritional standards of the food provided,
particularly to children and expectant and nursing mothers.
87. The Committee takes note of the Government’s avowed plans to award
citizenship to the 85,000 stateless Tamils living on Sri Lankan
territory. The Committee requests an
update regarding this situation in the next periodic report.
88. The Committee urges the State party to enforce the minimum legal
age for marriage of 18 years, as well as inheritance laws affecting women,
thereby superseding discriminatory customs and traditions. The Committee urges the State party to
repeal all laws that discriminate against children born out of wedlock.
89. The Committee recommends that the State party adopt policies and
implement relevant measures to combat discrimination in employment against
women and minority groups in both the private and public sectors. Particular attention should be paid to the
enjoyment by women and men of the right to equal pay for work of equal value.
90. The Committee urges the Government vigorously to enforce its child
labour laws and to establish immediately a legal minimum age for work in all
industries that is in accordance with international standards. In relation to the exploitation of
children, the Committee strongly recommends that Sri Lankan authorities
renew their efforts to seek out those who are responsible for the sexual
exploitation of children and to prosecute them to the full extent of the
law. The Committee encourages the
Government to seek the cooperation of other Governments in bringing to justice
all those who engage in the sexual exploitation of children, and international
assistance to establish rehabilitation programmes to facilitate the
reintegration into society of children who have been victimized.
91. The Committee strongly recommends that the Government undertake an
assessment of the impact on children of the prolonged absence of their mothers
working abroad with a view to educating Sri Lankan women in this regard,
and to discourage women from leaving the country for employment abroad as
domestic helpers, the conditions of which are often deplorable.
92. The Committee further requests that an updated report be provided
on progress achieved by the Government in addressing the problems of poverty,
malnutrition and lack of adequate housing.
93. The Committee recognizes that economic conditions provide a strong
incentive for many adults to seek work abroad, but notes that any resulting
separation of parents, and especially mothers, from their children can have
significant negative consequences, especially for the children. The Committee recommends that a study be
undertaken to shed more light on the issues involved and to provide a basis for
more informed decision‑making in such cases.
94. The Committee has taken note that a presidential task force has
been investigating the problem of suicide among the youth and has issued
recommendations in this regard. The
Committee requests that the report of this task force, as well as
information on action pursuant to its recommendation, be made available in the
next report submitted by the State party.
NIGERIA
95. The Committee considered Nigeria’s initial report on the rights
covered by articles 1 to 15 of the Covenant (E/1990/5/Add.31) at its 6th to
8th meetings held on 29 and 30 April 1998 and, at its 24th meeting on
13 May 1998, adopted the following concluding observations.
A. Introduction
96. The Committee welcomes the presentation of Nigeria's initial
report as well as the presence before the Committee of a delegation drawn from
Nigeria's Permanent Mission at Geneva.
The Committee regrets that no expert delegation could come from the
capital and also the fact that Nigeria’s initial report did not conform to the
guidelines the Committee has established and that the additional information
was received too late to be translated.
Furthermore, the Nigerian delegation acknowledged that it was not
equipped with the detailed and up-to-date facts and statistics required to
satisfactorily answer the list of issues submitted by the Committee to the
Nigerian Government 11 months earlier.
Additional information promised by the delegation during the dialogue
was never received.
B. Factors and difficulties impeding the
implementation
of the Covenant
97. The enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights is hindered
by the absence of the rule of law, the existence in Nigeria of military
governments, the suspension of the Constitution in favour of rule by military
decree and the concomitant resort to intimidation, and the negative effects of
widespread corruption on the functioning of governmental institutions.
98. The Nigerian people are deprived of the necessary judicial
protection of their human rights because the judiciary is undermined by “ouster
clauses” attached to many military decrees as well as by the military
Government’s refusal to implement the judiciary’s decisions.
99. The negative attitude of the Government of Nigeria with respect to
the promotion and protection of human rights in general, and economic, social
and cultural rights in particular, is further illustrated by its refusal to
cooperate with the United Nations human rights mechanisms, in particular the
Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights and the Secretary_General’s
fact_finding mission.
C. Positive aspects
100. The Committee welcomes the establishment of the National Human
Rights Commission of Nigeria, although it notes that the powers and
independence of the Commission have been the subject of criticism. The Commission has made salutary
recommendations in the field of human rights and has recommended the creation
of prison inspection committees. Many
of the Commission's recommendations, however, have gone unheeded.
101. The Committee welcomes the establishment of a Ministry for Women's
Affairs which is now responsible for the welfare of women and children. Small improvements have also been made in
women's participation in the political process. Three women have been included in the current Cabinet.
102. The Committee also welcomes the establishment of the National Child
Rights Implementation Committee and the preparation of a National Child Plan of
Action.
103. The Committee takes note of the statement by the delegation to the
effect that the Nigerian education and health sectors have, as from 1998,
received more attention and larger budgetary allocations with substantial
increases for infrastructure in the health and education fields.
D. Principal subjects of concern
104. The Committee notes with regret that the Special Rapporteur of the
Commission on Human Rights, as noted in his report on the situation of human
rights in Nigeria (E/CN.4/1998/62), has not been permitted to visit the country
and that the Nigerian Government failed to heed the appeals and concerns
expressed by the Secretary_General's fact_finding mission, the decisions of the
African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights and the statements of the
National Human Rights Commission of Nigeria, the Commonwealth Ministerial
Action Group and the International Labour Organization.
105. The Committee expresses its regret that the Nigerian authorities
deemed it fit to expel an estimated 500 Chadian and other workers in
inhuman and undignified circumstances, including persons with residence permits
who had been legally established for many years in Nigeria and had participated
in and contributed to the social security system. No adequate compensation is known to have been made to the
majority of them.
106. In the light of the foregoing, and substantiated by the report of
the Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights and by the latter's
resolution 1998/64 of 21 April 1998 regarding the human
rights situation in Nigeria, as well as by the many other reports of
independent international organizations and NGOs (all the relevant material
having been made available to the Nigerian delegation before and throughout the
dialogue), the Committee draws the conclusion that the rule of law is absent in
Nigeria, with the attendant extensive violations affecting all aspects and
domains of economic, social and cultural rights in the State party.
107. The Committee is concerned about the high percentage of
unemployment and underemployment among Nigerian workers, particularly
agricultural workers, due to the neglect of the agricultural sector. This has led to massive migrations by
agricultural workers in search of work to the cities, where they live in
poverty and degrading conditions.
108. The Committee expresses its concern that women suffer discrimination
in the workplace, particularly with respect to access to employment, promotion
to higher positions and equal pay for work of equal value.
109. The Committee is concerned that the executive councils of the
Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas
Workers (NUPENG) and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of
Nigeria (PENGASSAN) were dissolved in 1994 by military decree and that military
administrators have been appointed to run these trade unions since then. The Committee further notes with concern
that the military Government has also decreased the number of labour unions
from 42 to 29 and has prevented unions from associating with international federations
of labour unions. In spite of repeated
recommendations by the ILO, violations continue. In this regard, the Committee regrets that the Nigerian
Government has refused to receive the visit of a direct contacts mission of the
ILO to discuss these matters.
110. The Committee is greatly concerned at the fate of the NUPENG
General Secretary, Frank Kokori, and the PENGASSAN General Secretary, Milton
Dabibi, who have been imprisoned for four and two years respectively,
without being charged or tried. The
Nigerian delegation could not explain why they have not been charged or tried
until now.
111. The Committee expresses its deep concern over repeated violations
of the right to strike, wherein industrial action by workers seeking higher
salaries have been repressed by the Government under the pretext of State
security.
112. The Committee expresses its concern about the Government’s policy
of retrenchment aimed at dismissing up to 200,000 employees in the public
sector, without adequate compensation.
The Committee notes with concern that in 1997 the military Governor of
the State of Kaduna issued a decree dismissing 22,000 workers of the
Kaduna State civil service when they went on strike.
113. The Committee also expressed its dissatisfaction with the
functioning of the inadequate social security system. The delegation indicated that the Nigerian Government does not
interfere with the private sector, where most workers are now engaged. No statistics or other information were
provided about the degree of enjoyment by employees of the private sector of
their social security rights. Nor are
there any statistics about the Government’s attempts to spread the social
security net to cover the majority of the unemployed poor. The National Nigerian Insurance Trust Fund
does not cover all the needy. In the
private sector, social security benefits are voluntary, depending on employers'
whims.
114. The Committee deplores the failure of the Government of Nigeria to
abolish female genital mutilation, a practice which is incompatible with the
human rights of women and
in particular with the right to health.
According to UNICEF, the prevalence of female genital mutilation in
Nigeria is estimated to be 50 per cent of the female population.
115. The Committee condemns the continuing existence of legal provisions
which permit the beating (“chastisement”) of women by their husbands.
116. The Committee notes with concern that polygamy, a practice which is
very often incompatible with the economic, social and cultural rights of women,
is widespread in Nigeria.
117. The Committee expresses its deep concern about the rising number of
homeless women and young girls, who are forced to sleep in the streets where
they are vulnerable to rape and other forms of violence.
118. Children are not much better off.
Many resort to prostitution to feed themselves. The rate of school drop-outs at the primary
school age is over 20 per cent.
Twelve million children are estimated to hold one job or another. For those who go to school, up to 80 or more
are crammed into dilapidated classrooms originally meant to take a maximum of
only 40. They are the first to suffer
the results of broken marriages.
Nigerian law does not provide equal treatment to children born in
wedlock and those born out of wedlock.
Most alarming is the widespread problem of children suffering from
malnutrition. Almost
30 per cent of Nigerian children suffer from malnutrition and its
damaging consequences. According to
UNICEF, all available evidence shows that hunger and malnutrition are widely
prevalent in Nigeria.
119. The Committee is greatly disturbed that 21 per cent of
the population of Nigeria live below the poverty line in spite of the country's
rich natural resources. The Committee
further notes with concern that due to economic and administrative
mismanagement, corruption, runaway inflation and the rapid devaluation of the
naira, Nigeria now ranks among the world's 20 poorest countries.
120. According to World Bank estimates at least 17 million
Nigerians, many of whom are children, are undernourished. The gap is widening between the (increasing)
rate of population growth and demand for food, on the one hand, and the
(falling) rate of food production, on the other. Nigeria has moved from being an exporter of food items to a net
importer.
121. The Committee is appalled at the great number of homeless people
and notes with concern the acute housing problem in Nigeria where decent
housing is scarce and relatively expensive.
The urban poor, especially women and children, are forced to live in makeshift
shelters in appalling and degrading conditions presenting hazards for both
physical and mental health. Safe,
treated pipe-borne water is available to about 50 per cent of urban
dwellers but to only 30 per cent of rural inhabitants. In general, only 39 per cent of
Nigeria’s population has adequate access to clean drinking water.
122. The Committee notes with concern that gross underfunding and
inadequate management of health services during the last decade had led to the
rapid deterioration of health infrastructures in hospitals. The capital allocation for health and social
services in the 1996 budget was N 1.7 billion, only
3.5 per cent of all capital allocations to federal ministries. Frequently, hospital patients not only have
had to buy drugs, but have also had to supply needles, syringes and suture
thread, in addition to paying for bed space.
As a result many Nigerian doctors have chosen to emigrate.
123. The Committee notes with alarm the extent of the devastation that
oil exploration has caused to environment and the quality of life in those
areas, including Ogoniland where oil has been discovered and extracted without
due regard for the health and well-being of the people and their environment.
124. The Committee regrets the fact that the Government's social and
health allocations are consistently diminishing and that the authorities have
reintroduced primary school fees in certain States and imposed hospital charges
where they did not exist before.
125. Schoolchildren often have to carry their desks and chairs from
their homes to the school. According to
reports by UNICEF, there has been a marked reduction in school_age children
going to school as parents cannot afford to pay the new drastically increased
school fees for primary and secondary school.
Recent poor educational quality is due partly to little teacher
attention being devoted to schoolwork because of poor salaries, leading to
incessant strikes and school closures.
126. University fees increased dramatically in 1997 and students in some
universities, especially in southern Nigeria, were required to pay 10 times as
much as other students. In addition,
satellite campuses were forced to close for no particular reason.
127. The military authorities have found intellectuals, journalists,
university professors and university students to be easy targets for repression
or persecution on the pretext that they constitute the most vociferous and
dangerous political opposition. One of
the major university campuses has been put under military guardianship. Universities have suffered repeated and long
periods of closure. There is also a
brain drain in academia, as a result of political and academic instability as
well as the extremely low salaries of university professors.
E. Suggestions and recommendations
128. The restoration of democracy and the rule of law are prerequisites
for the implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights in Nigeria. Elimination
of the practice of governing by military decree and the strengthening of the
authority of the Nigerian judiciary and the National Human Rights Commission
are necessary first steps in restoring confidence in the regime's intention to
reinstitute democratic civilian rule.
129. The Committee urges the Nigerian Government to open up to
United Nations bodies, specialized agencies and other international
organizations and to conduct constructive and transparent dialogues with them,
as a necessary step towards the restoration of confidence in Nigeria's
intention to implement its human rights obligations, including those under the
Covenant.
130. The Committee calls upon the Government to restore a democratic
political system and respect for the rule of law, which is a prerequisite for
the development of a system of government which promotes full respect for
economic, social and cultural rights.
Respect for trade union freedoms and academic freedom should also be
restored urgently.
131. The Committee urges the Government, in the strongest terms, to release
trade union leaders and members, including in particular those named in
paragraph 110 above, who have been imprisoned without being charged or
tried. Harsh prison conditions should
be alleviated and political prisoners freed and pardoned. The rights of labour unions and syndicates
should be restored and respected.
132. The rights of minority and ethnic communities - including the Ogoni
people - should be respected and full redress should be provided for the
violations that they have suffered of the rights set forth in the Covenant.
133. The Committee calls on the Government to cease and prevent, in law
and in practice, all forms of social, economic and physical violence and
discrimination against women and children, especially the continuous, degrading
and dangerous practice of female genital mutilation.
134. Likewise, the Nigerian Government should enact legislation and
ensure by all appropriate means the protection of children against the many
negative consequences ensuing from child labour, dropping out of school,
malnutrition, and discrimination against children born out of wedlock.
135. The Nigerian Government should take steps to meet the targets it
has accepted in relation to Education for All by the year 2000 and should
enforce the right to compulsory, free primary education.
136. The Committee urges the Government to cease forthwith the massive
and arbitrary evictions of people from their homes and to take such measures as
are necessary to alleviate the plight of those who are arbitrarily evicted or
are too poor to afford decent accommodation.
In view of the acute shortage of housing, the Government should allocate
adequate resources and make sustained efforts to combat this serious situation.
137. The Committee recommends that a more positive and open dialogue
between the Committee and the Nigerian Government be undertaken and
maintained. The Government need not
wait until its next report is due in five years' time; the Committee calls
upon the Government to submit a comprehensive second periodic report,
prepared in conformity with the Committee's guidelines, by
1 January 2000.
138. The Committee urges the State party to disseminate the present
concluding observations widely.
POLAND
139. The Committee considered the third periodic report of Poland on the
rights covered by articles 1 to 15 of the Covenant (E/1994/104/Add.13),
along with the written
replies to the list of questions, at its 10th to 12th meetings, held on 4
and 5 May 1998 and, at its 26th meeting on 14 May 1998,
adopted the following concluding observations.
A. Introduction
140. The Committee welcomes the submission of the third periodic report
of Poland, which it found to be comprehensive and to conform to its guidelines
on the preparation of reports. The
Committee also expresses appreciation for the additional information presented
prior to and during the dialogue by a well_informed delegation, which enabled
it to engage in a frank and constructive dialogue.
B. Positive aspects
141. The Committee notes with satisfaction the prominence accorded to
economic, social and cultural rights in the new 1997 Constitution, which
contains provisions protecting, inter alia, the rights freely to pursue
an occupation, to safe conditions of work, to social security, to education and
of housing. It welcomes the State
party’s expressed intention to abide by international human rights standards,
including the European Social Charter. The Committee also notes with interest
that Poland has no substantive objections to ratifying International Labour
Organization Convention No. 97 (1949) on migration for employment
(revised), No. 102 (1952) on minimum standards for social security, No.
159 (1983) on vocational rehabilitation and employment (disabled persons), and
No. 176 (1995) on safety and health in mines.
It further welcomes Poland’s expressed intention to ratify Convention
Nos. 102 and 176 and to examine the possibility of ratifying the other
conventions in the near future.
142. The Committee further welcomes the status accorded to international
legal instruments, including the Covenant, in Polish national law. Under the new Constitution, international
treaties may be directly invoked in the courts, except for those considered not
to be self-executing in nature. The
Committee was assured that any provisions of the Covenant not considered to be
self-executing will be adopted into domestic law and given effect in that way.
It expresses satisfaction that in cases of conflict with national law,
international treaties will prevail over national law.
143. The Committee welcomes the establishment and functioning of the
office of the Commissioner for Citizens’ Rights, who may be addressed by all
persons and who appears to exercise sufficiently broad powers of investigation
and application for redress from the relevant authorities. The Committee also notes that the new
Constitution foresees the establishment of a Commissioner for Children’s
Rights. It looks forward to receiving
information in the next report of the State party on the specific functions and
authority entrusted to these posts, as well as on any follow-up to the
decisions or recommendations of the Commissioners.
144. The Committee welcomes the success achieved during the last five
years in terms of economic performance, particularly in controlling inflation,
raising production and doubling the level of per capita income since 1994.
It also expresses
satisfaction that the State party has sought international assistance in
implementing many social programmes and modernizing government facilities.
145. The Committee welcomes the recent Action Programme for Women, which
includes among its objectives the elimination of violence against women, and
notes with interest the assurances offered that domestic violence will be fully
addressed in the next periodic report.
146. The Committee commends the efforts of the Government to upgrade its
labour market services designed to improve access to employment opportunities,
to retrain workers for jobs in demand, and to provide assistance to people
wishing to move from overpopulated areas to underpopulated rural areas.
C. Factors and difficulties impeding the
implementation of the
Covenant
147. The Committee recognizes that there are, inevitably, difficulties
arising from the process of political transition to a democratic form of
government, as well as problems arising from transition to a market-oriented
economy.
D. Principal subjects of concern
148. With respect to the question of minorities, the Committee notes
with interest the treaty concluded with Germany on the subject of the German
ethnic minority in Poland by which various rights of this group were given
effect, including a fixed number of seats in Parliament and the right to
operate a large number of schools. The
Committee notes that similar treaties were not concluded with respect to other
minority groups and is concerned that such a situation may lead to perceived or
actual inequalities between minorities.
149. The Committee notes that under the new Constitution, Poland is a
secular State with no formal role attributed to any religious
denomination. The Committee is
nevertheless concerned that policies and decisions of a social nature seem to
be excessively influenced by particular religious considerations and do not
take adequate account of the existence of minority religious groups.
150. The Committee notes that restrictions have recently been imposed on
abortions that exclude economic and social grounds for performing legal
abortions. The Committee expresses its concern
that because of this restriction, women in Poland are resorting to unscrupulous
abortionists and risking their health in doing so. The Committee is also concerned that family planning services are
not provided in the public health_care system so that women have no access to
affordable contraception.
151. The Committee also expresses concern at the rising incidence of
domestic violence and of trafficking of young women, as acknowledged by the
Government. It notes the absence of specific regulations on sexual harassment
of women, the lack of shelters for the women and children who are victims of
family violence in 33 per cent of voivodships, and the apparent lack of
counselling facilities for such victims.
152. The Committee expresses deep concern that the right to work is not
fully enjoyed by women. It notes that
the principle of equal pay for equal work is not being respected. The Committee deplores, in particular, the
fact that women earn on average only 70 per cent of the wages earned by men, despite
their generally higher levels of education.
It also notes the existence of discriminatory practices such as job
advertisements specifying the preferred gender of the employees sought and
women candidates for jobs being asked to take pregnancy tests, despite the
existence of legislation prohibiting such practices.
153. The Committee notes that despite the efforts of the Government
referred to in paragraph 146 above, there is a high unemployment rate in the
State party. The Committee is concerned
over the large numbers of unemployed and underemployed persons, particularly
youth in rural areas. The Committee
suggests that the high unemployment figures may be partly attributable to the
“grey” and “black” markets, where people work with no formal contract and pay
little or no taxes and which is encouraged in large part by high employment
taxes. The Committee notes that
measures to deal with these situations are new and awaits information on
their results in the next periodic report.
154. The Committee draws the attention of the Government to article 11,
paragraph 1, of the Covenant and to its General Comment No. 7 (1997) on the
right to adequate housing (art. 11, para. 1, of the Covenant): forced evictions. 4/ The
Committee is concerned about existing legal provisions under which forced
evictions may be carried out without provision for alternative lodging. The Committee also views with concern the
problem of homeless people in Poland caused by the acute shortage of housing,
the relatively high number of families living below the poverty line, the
recent flooding and forced evictions.
155. The Committee expresses concern over the deteriorating health
indicators that have been recorded during the last five years. It also draws attention to several areas of
particular concern identified during the dialogue, namely, declining
levels of nutrition, rising alcoholism, and increasing cardiovascular disease
and cancers.
156. The Committee is concerned about the inadequate enforcement of
occupational safety laws in Poland resulting in a relatively high number of
accidents in the workplace, both in the private and the public sectors.
E. Suggestions and recommendations
157. The Committee recommends that special care be taken to ensure full
respect for the rights of all religious groups, particularly concerning issues
of national policy such as education, gender equality and health care. The Committee further recommends that the
rights of all minority groups with regard to their right to participate in
national political and economic life and the right to practise and teach their
culture be fully respected.
158. The Committee recommends that every effort be made to ensure
women's right to health, in particular reproductive health. It recommends that family
planning services be made
available to all persons, including counselling on safe alternatives to
contraception and reliable and informative sex education for school-age
children.
159. The Committee recommends that sexual harassment against women be
prohibited by law. It recommends that
shelters for women and children who are victims of family violence, with all
necessary support facilities, including counselling and other assistance, be
provided in all voivodships. It looks
forward to receiving in the next periodic report detailed information on the
problem of domestic violence and the results of the recently adopted Action
Programme for Women.
160. The Committee recommends that the 1962 citizenship law, which
discriminates against women by not granting them the same right as men to
transmit citizenship to their foreign-born spouses, be abolished.
161. The Committee recommends that the right to work be fully protected
for women as well as for men on the basis of equal pay for equal work. It suggests that a study be undertaken on
the subject and requests that information on measures taken in this regard be
contained in the next periodic report submitted by the State party.
162. The Committee urges the State party to take appropriate measures,
especially increasing the number of State labour inspectors and strengthening
their powers, in order to ensure that occupational safety legislation is
properly implemented.
163. The Committee recommends that the conditions for permissible forced
evictions be specified in law, with provisions that address the need for
alternative lodging for those evicted.
The Committee urges the State party to take all appropriate measures in
addressing the problems of the acute housing shortage and homelessness. It further recommends that the basis for
setting rental rates be determined in a way that protects the rights of both
property owners and tenants, especially those among the most vulnerable groups
of society. The Committee suggests that
information on one’s rights and responsibilities and the public and private
avenues of assistance available in a market economy be provided to all
consumers, in particular tenants. The
Committee emphasizes that respect for the right to housing should include, when
appropriate, measures to assist those whose homes are put in jeopardy or who
are rendered homeless by dramatic rent increases due to the elimination of
rental subsidies.
164. The Committee recommends that the State party engage in a
large-scale public information campaign to promote healthy lifestyles among the
Polish people in order to improve the quality of their nutrition, combat
alcoholism and smoking, and reduce the risks of cardiovascular diseases and
cancers. The campaign should
extend to schools, where such information should be incorporated into the
regular curricula.
165. The Committee urges the State party to accelerate the process of
ratification of ILO Conventions Nos. 102, 176, 97 and 159. It requests that
information on that
process, as well as on all points contained in these concluding observations on
which information has been requested, be contained in the next periodic report
submitted by the State party.
166. The Committee urges the State party to disseminate the present
concluding observations widely.
NETHERLANDS
I. EUROPEAN PART OF THE KINGDOM
167. The Committee considered the second periodic report of the
Netherlands (the European part of the Kingdom) on the rights covered by
articles 1 to 15 of the Covenant (E/1990/6/Add.11) at its 13th to 17th meetings,
held on 5 to 7 May 1998 and, at its 28th meeting on 15 May 1998,
adopted the following concluding observations.
A. Introduction
168. The Committee thanks the Government of the Netherlands for the
presentation of its report, which was in keeping with the Committee's
guidelines, although it was nearly nine years late. The Committee also welcomed the written submission of full
replies to its list of questions and expressed satisfaction at the open and constructive
dialogue with the State party, which was represented by a delegation of
experts. The Committee appreciates the
high quality of the information contained in the core document
(HRI/CORE/1/Add.66).
B. Positive aspects
169. The Committee recognizes the State party's long tradition of
respect for human rights and that the various initiatives it has taken to
guarantee these rights more securely have been included as part of this
tradition.
170. The Committee notes that the Netherlands has to a considerable
extent met its obligations with respect to the protection of the rights set out
in the Covenant.
171. The Committee welcomes the programmes and measures adopted in the
education system to eliminate discrimination against women and to address
social stereotypes of women in the media.
172. The Committee welcomes very warmly the success of the campaign
against racial discrimination which can be seen in particular in the fact that
incidents of racial violence have disappeared.
173. The Committee also welcomes the Government's programmes to create
new jobs and help the unemployed, particularly ethnic minorities, young people
and persons over 50 years of age, to become part of or to become
reintegrated into the labour force.
174. The Committee welcomes the Government's intention to withdraw the
reservation it entered in the Covenant concerning the right to strike.
175. The Committee considers that the Government's policy of providing
subsidies for the construction of places of worship for the various religions
practised in the Netherlands is of considerable importance both in helping to
combat discrimination and in contributing to the realization of the right to
take part in cultural life.
C. Factors
and difficulties impeding the
implementation
of the Covenant
176. The Committee notes that the structural adjustment policy adopted
by the Government has lowered the standard of living of the lowest income
groups. The reduction in services and
subsidies previously provided by the State has had adverse effects on wages,
health, social security and education.
This policy has not undergone any change despite the economic growth
recorded over the last four years, but the Committee notes the Government's
assertion that it will continue its efforts to alleviate the damage which the
policy has caused or may cause to the most vulnerable sectors of society.
D. Principal subjects of concern
177. In line with its General Comment No. 3 (1990) on the nature of
States parties’ obligations (art. 2, para. 1, of the Covenant), 5/ the Committee considers that, at a minimum,
certain provisions of the Covenant are potentially able to be directly applied
both in law and in policy. It therefore
cannot accept the assertion by the representative of the State party that for
essentially technical reasons the Covenant is not directly applicable.
178. The Committee is concerned by continuing discrimination against
women at work. Their higher rate of
unemployment, their lower position on the wage scale and their disproportionate
representation in part_time work reveal that the principle of equality
established by the law is not effectively enforced.
179. Racial discrimination can also be seen to exist in labour matters,
contributing to some extent to unemployment among immigrants.
180. A third group which suffers from discrimination in the labour
market is that of persons 55 to 65 years of age, whose unemployment
rate is over 50 per cent.
181. The Committee expresses its concern at the permissive nature of
labour legislation with regard to overtime, the excessive use of which may give
rise to a decline in the creation of further jobs.
182. The Committee expresses its concern that the reform of the social
security system may have certain adverse consequences for the most
underprivileged sectors of society.
183. The Committee regrets that the statistical data on violence against
women and child abuse have not been analysed and used to formulate measures to
address these problems. The Committee
also regrets that the lack of information on child prostitution has prevented
both the Government and the Committee from appreciating the extent of this
problem.
184. The Committee views with concern the living conditions of asylum
seekers in some reception centres in the country.
185. The Committee wishes to express its concern at the consequences of
the Tuition Fees Act which has led to a constant increase in the cost of
education. Such increases are contrary
to the principle of equality of opportunities between the children of rich
families and children of poor families.
186. The Committee wishes to express its concern at the statement by the
State party that the Government of the Netherlands is not responsible for the
implementation of economic, social and cultural rights in Aruba and the
Netherlands Antilles, given that Aruba and the Netherlands Antilles are
equal parts of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Government of the
Netherlands contributes every year 1.5 per cent of GNP to Aruba and
the Netherlands Antilles.
E. Suggestions and recommendations
187. The Committee recommends that the Government reassess the extent to
which the provisions of the Covenant might be given direct applicability within
the Kingdom.
188. The Committee recommends that the Government intensify its efforts
to guarantee men and women equal access to employment and equal wages for work
of equal value.
189. The Government should continue its endeavours to root out racial
discrimination in the labour market with a view to facilitating the integration
of immigrants and their families into the national life.
190. The Committee encourages the Government to adopt measures to
promote the access of persons between the ages of 55 and 65 to the labour
market.
191. The Committee urges the Government to ensure that the reduction of
budgetary allocations for social welfare programmes does not adversely affect
the economic, social and cultural rights of the most vulnerable groups in the
Netherlands, and calls upon the Government to address this issue in detail in
its next periodic report.
192. The Committee notes that the Ministry of Justice is currently
analysing the results of studies on violence against women and on child abuse,
with a view to formulating policies and implementing measures to combat these
problems. The Committee recommends that
more clearly targeted policies be adopted to protect the welfare of the
family. The Committee requests an
update on these matters in the Government's next report.
193. The Government should take appropriate steps to alleviate or
eliminate the adverse effects of the Tuition Fees Act.
194. The Committee urges the State party to ensure that it complies
fully with its obligations under the Covenant as they apply to Aruba and the
Netherlands Antilles.
II. ARUBA
195. The Committee also considered the second periodic report of Aruba
on the rights covered by articles 1 to 15 of the Covenant (E/1990/6/Add.13) at
its 13th to 17th meetings and, at its 28th meeting, adopted the
following concluding observations.
A. Introduction
196. The Committee regrets that no delegation from Aruba was able to
take part in the discussion and that the resulting dialogue therefore proved
unsatisfactory, despite attempts by the delegation of the Netherlands to answer
questions based on written information received from Aruba. The Committee appreciates the high quality
of the information contained in the core document (HRI/CORE/1/Add.68).
B. Positive aspects
197. The Committee notes that Aruba has, generally speaking, achieved a
satisfactory level of compliance with its obligations concerning the protection
of the rights established in the Covenant.
198. The Committee notes with satisfaction the low rate of unemployment
in Aruba.
C. Factors
and difficulties impeding the
implementation
of the Covenant
199. The Committee considers that a major challenge facing the
government in relation to the implementation of the Covenant concerns the
challenges posed by the number of foreign workers in the territory.
D. Principal subjects of concern
200. The Committee regrets that none of the provisions of the Covenant
may be directly invoked in the courts.
This situation is inconsistent with the approach adopted by the
Committee in its General Comment No. 3 (1990).
201. The Committee is concerned at the inequalities between men and
women, particularly with regard to equal wages for equal work.
202. The Committee notes the slow progress of the Joint Committee for
the Revision of the Civil Code, established in 1993 to do away with the
anachronistic provisions embodying the inequalities between men and women.
203. The Committee expresses its concern at the fact that primary
education is still not compulsory, and at the high rate of school drop_outs in
Aruba.
E. Suggestions and recommendations
204. The Committee recommends that a reassessment should be made of the
extent to which the provisions of the Covenant might be given direct
applicability in Aruba.
205. The Committee recommends that the Government intensify its efforts
to guarantee the effective implementation of equality between men and women,
particularly with regard to equal wages for work of equal value.
206. The Committee recommends that the authorities abolish provisions in
the country's legislation constituting any form of discrimination and that they
promulgate the new Civil Code as soon as possible.
207. It also recommends that a plan of action be adopted urgently to
move towards the provision of free compulsory primary education as required by
article 14 of the Covenant.
208. The Committee urges the Government to intensify its efforts to
address the school drop_out problem.
209. In view of the extent to which Aruba's laws and regulations are
outdated, the Committee recommends that Aruba bring its laws and regulations up
to date in order to ensure full compliance with the Covenant.
III. NETHERLANDS ANTILLES
210. The Committee further considered the second periodic report of the
Netherlands Antilles on the rights covered by articles 1 to 15 of the Covenant
(E/1990/6/Add.12) at its 13th to 17th meetings and, at its 28th meeting,
adopted the following concluding observations.
A. Introduction
211. The Committee welcomes the participation of a government official
from the Netherlands Antilles in the delegation of the State party. The Committee appreciates the high quality
of the information contained in the core document (HRI/CORE/1/Add.67).
B. Positive aspects
212. The Committee notes that the Netherlands Antilles has achieved a
generally satisfactory level of compliance with its obligations in respect of
the protection of the rights set out in the Covenant.
213. The Committee notes also that, pursuant to the law, primary
education is compulsory in all the islands of the Netherlands Antilles.
C. Factors
and difficulties impeding the
implementation
of the Covenant
214. The Committee notes that the population of the Netherlands Antilles
is dispersed over a large geographical area and that this adds another
dimension to the challenge of ensuring an effective system for the
implementation and promotion of economic, social and cultural rights.
D. Principal subjects of concern
215. The Committee regrets that none of the provisions of the Covenant
may be directly invoked in the courts.
This situation is inconsistent with the approach adopted by the
Committee in its General Comment No. 3 (1990).
216. The Committee is concerned at the inequalities between men and
women, particularly with respect to equal access to employment and equal wages
for work of equal value.
217. The Committee expresses its concern at provisions that permit
practices in matters of inheritance not governed by the principle of equity so
as to benefit all those who have a legal interest in the inheritance.
218. The Committee expresses its concern at the increase in the school drop_out
rate, the causes of which include the difficulties which have emerged in
education due to the existence of several tongues spoken as first languages on
the islands and the use of Dutch as the language of education.
219. The Committee is also concerned at the existence of three minimum
wage levels in each island, since such situations may give rise to or reflect
situations of discrimination.
220. The Committee views with concern the problem of the acute shortage
of housing and forced evictions, and the homelessness which affects primarily
the island of St. Maarten. These
problems are compounded by the influx of migrants, by cyclones, and by a sharp
decline in the annual expenditure dedicated to housing by the Government.
E. Suggestions and recommendations
221. The Committee recommends that the extent to which the provisions of
the Covenant might be given direct applicability within the Netherlands
Antilles be reassessed.
222. The Committee recommends that the Government intensify its efforts
to guarantee effective equality between men and women, particularly with regard
to equal access to employment and equal wages for work of equal value.
223. The Committee encourages the Government, in addressing the school
drop_out problem, to expedite the implementation of its programme for education
in the students' mother tongues along with the progressive introduction of
Dutch. It also recommends the urgent
adoption of a plan of action to move towards the provision of free compulsory
primary education as required by article 14 of the Covenant.
224. The Committee urges the Government to promulgate legislation for
the standardization of minimum wages throughout the islands.
225. The Committee encourages the Government to carry out its intention
to withdraw its reservation to the Covenant concerning the right to strike.
226. The Committee encourages the governments of all three parts of the
Kingdom of the Netherlands to circulate these concluding observations as widely
as possible among all sectors of society.
Nineteenth
session
ISRAEL
227. The Committee considered the initial report of Israel on the rights
covered by articles 1 to 15 of the Covenant (E/1990/5/Add.39), together with
the written replies to the list of issues, at its 31st to 33rd meetings, held
on 17 and 18 November 1998 and, at its 53rd meeting on 2
December 1998, adopted the following concluding observations.
A. Introduction
228. The Committee welcomes the submission of the initial report, which
generally conforms to its guidelines on the preparation of reports. The Committee regrets, however, the delay in
the submission of the report.
229. The Committee expresses appreciation for the presentation of the
State's representatives and the additional information they provided during the
dialogue. The Committee also takes note
of the extensive information submitted to it by a large number of
non_governmental organizations which was available to the Committee for its
dialogue with the State party.
B. Positive factors
230. The Committee welcomes the enactment in 1995 of the National Health
Insurance Law which provides for primary health care and ensures equal and
adequate health services for each citizen and permanent resident of Israel. The
Committee also welcomes the amendment in 1996 of the same law to enable
housewives to receive the minimum old_age pension while remaining exempt from
contributions.
231. The Committee welcomes the recent establishment of the Authority
for the Advancement of the Status of Women which is vested with advisory powers
with respect to policies to promote gender equality, eliminate discrimination
against women and prevent domestic violence against women.
232. The Committee takes note of the statement by State party's
representatives that with respect to the Covenant's applicability in the
occupied territories, Israel accepts direct responsibility in some areas
covered by the Covenant, indirect responsibility in other areas and overall
significant legal responsibility across the board. This conforms to the Committee's view that the Covenant applies
to all areas where Israel maintains geographical, functional or personal
jurisdiction.
C. Factors and difficulties
affecting the implementation
of the Covenant
233. The Committee notes that Israel's emphasis on its security
concerns, including its policies on closures, has hampered the realization of
economic, social and cultural rights within Israel and the occupied
territories.
D. Principal subjects of concern
Land
and people
234. The Committee notes with concern that the Government's written and
oral reports included statistics indicating the enjoyment of the rights
enshrined in the Covenant by Israeli settlers in the occupied territories but
that the Palestinian population within the same jurisdictional areas were
excluded from both the report and the protection of the Covenant. The Committee is of the view that the
State's obligations under the Covenant apply to all territories and populations
under its effective control. The
Committee therefore regrets that the State party was not prepared to provide
adequate information in relation to the occupied territories.
Status
of the Covenant
235. The Committee notes that economic, social and cultural rights have
not been granted constitutional recognition in Israel's legal system. The Committee is of the view that the
current Draft Basic Law: Social Rights
does not meet the requirements of Israel's obligations under the Covenant.
Discrimination
236. The Committee expresses concern that excessive emphasis upon the
State as a “Jewish State” encourages discrimination and accords a second_class
status to its non_Jewish citizens. The
Committee notes with concern that the Government of Israel does not accord
equal rights to its Arab citizens, although they comprise over
19 per cent of the total population.
This discriminatory attitude is apparent in the lower standard of living
of Israeli Arabs as a result, inter alia, of lack of access to
housing, water, electricity and health care and their lower level of
education. The Committee also notes
with concern that despite the fact that the Arabic language has official status
in law, it is not given equal importance in practice.
237. The Committee notes with grave concern that the Status Law of 1952
authorizes the World Zionist Organization/Jewish Agency and its subsidiaries,
including the Jewish National Fund, to control most of the land in Israel,
since these institutions are chartered to benefit Jews exclusively. Despite the fact that the institutions are
chartered under private law, the State of Israel nevertheless has a decisive
influence on their policies and thus remains responsible for their
activities. A State party cannot divest
itself of its obligations under the Covenant by privatizing governmental
functions. The Committee takes the view
that large_scale and systematic confiscation of Palestinian land and property
by the State and the transfer of that property to these agencies constitute an institutionalized
form of discrimination
because these agencies by
definition would deny the use of these properties to non_Jews. Thus, these practices constitute a breach of
Israel's obligations under the Covenant.
238. The Committee notes with deep concern the situation of the Jahalin
Bedouin families who were forcibly evicted from their ancestral lands to make
way for the expansion of the Ma'aleh Adumim and Keidar settlements. The Committee deplores the manner in which
the Government of Israel has housed these families _ in steel container
vans in a garbage dump in Abu Dis in subhuman living conditions. The Committee regrets that instead of
providing assurances that this matter will be resolved, the State party has
insisted that it can only be solved through litigation.
239. The Committee notes with concern that the Law of Return, which
allows any Jew from anywhere in the world to immigrate and thereby virtually
automatically enjoy residence and obtain citizenship in Israel, discriminates
against Palestinians in the diaspora upon whom the Government of Israel has
imposed restrictive requirements which make it almost impossible to return to
their land of birth.
Employment
240. The Committee notes with concern the rapid growth of unemployment
in Israel as a result of which more and more workers are employed in low_paying
part_time work where they have little or no legal protection.
241. The Committee notes with regret that more than
72 per cent of persons with disabilities are unemployed. The new Law of Equality for People with Disabilities 1998
has not set any quota for the employment of such persons.
242. The Committee is alarmed that only half of the workers entitled to
the minimum wage actually get it, and that foreign workers, Palestinians and
“manpower contractor” workers are particularly vulnerable in this regard.
Closure
243. The Committee regrets that the Government of Israel has maintained
“general closures” continuously since 1993, thereby restricting and controlling
the movement of people and goods between Israel and the West Bank and the
Gaza Strip, between Jerusalem and the West Bank and between the West Bank
and the Gaza Strip. The Committee notes
with concern that these restrictions apply only to Palestinians and not to
Jewish Israeli citizens. The Committee
is of the view that closures have cut off Palestinians from their own land and
resources, resulting in widespread violations of their economic, social and
cultural rights, including in particular those contained in article 1,
paragraph 2, of the Covenant.
244. The Committee notes with grave concern the severe consequences of
closure on the Palestinian population.
Closures have prevented access to health care, first and foremost during
medical emergencies, which at times have tragically ended in death at
checkpoints and elsewhere. Workers from
the occupied territories are prevented from reaching their workplaces,
depriving them of income and livelihood and the enjoyment of their rights under
the Covenant. Poverty and lack of food
aggravated by closures particularly affect children, pregnant women and the
elderly who are most vulnerable to malnutrition.
245. The Committee is concerned at the forcible separation of
Palestinian families because of closures and the refusal of Israeli authorities
to allow students in Gaza to return to their universities in the West
Bank.
Permanent
residency law
246. The Committee expresses its concern at the effect of the directive
of the Ministry of the Interior, according to which Palestinians may lose their
right to live in the city if they cannot prove that East Jerusalem has been
their “centre of life” for the past seven years. The Committee also regrets a serious lack of transparency in the
application of the directive, as indicated by numerous reports. The Committee notes with concern that this
policy is being applied retroactively both to Palestinians who live abroad and
to those who live in the West Bank or in nearby Jerusalem suburbs, but not to
Israeli Jews or to foreign Jews who are permanent residents of East
Jerusalem. This system has resulted in,
inter alia, the separation of Arab families and the denial of their
right to social services and health care, including maternity care for Arab
women, which are privileges linked to residency status in Jerusalem. The Committee is deeply concerned that the
implementation of a quota system for the reunification of Palestinian families
affected by this residency law involves long delays and does not meet the needs
of all divided families. Similarly, the
granting of residency status is often a long process and, as a result, many
children are separated from at least one of their parents and spouses are not
able to live together.
Land
use and housing
247. The Committee is deeply concerned about the adverse impact of the
growing exclusion faced by Palestinians in East Jerusalem from the enjoyment of
their economic, social and cultural rights.
The Committee is also concerned over the continued Israeli policies of
building settlements to expand the boundaries of East Jerusalem and of
transferring Jewish residents into East Jerusalem with the result that they now
outnumber the Palestinian residents.
248. The Committee deplores the continuing practices of the Government
of Israel of home demolitions, land confiscations and restrictions on family
reunification and residency rights, and its adoption of policies which result
in substandard housing and living conditions, including extreme overcrowding
and lack of services, of Palestinians in East Jerusalem, in particular in the
old city.
249. The Committee notes with concern the situation of Arab
neighbourhoods in mixed cities such as Jaffa and Lod which have deteriorated
into virtual slums because of Israel's excessively restrictive system of
granting government permits without which it is illegal to undertake any kind
of structural repair or renovation.
250. The Committee notes that despite State party's obligation under
article 11 of the Covenant, the Government of Israel continues to
expropriate Palestinian lands and resources for the expansion of Israeli
settlements. Thousands of dunams (1
dunam equals 1,000 square metres) of land in the West Bank have recently
been confiscated to build 20 new bypass roads which cut West Bank towns
off from outlying villages and farmlands.
The consequence _ if not the motivation _ is the
fragmentation and isolation of the Palestinian communities and facilitation of
the expansion of illegal settlements.
The Committee also notes with concern that while the Government annually
diverts millions of cubic metres of water from the West Bank's Eastern Aquifer
Basin, the annual per capita consumption allocation for Palestinians is only
125 cubic metres while settlers are allocated
1,000 cubic metres per capita.
251. The Committee expresses its concern over the plight of an
estimated 200,000 uprooted “present absentees”, Palestinian Arab citizens
of Israel most of whom were forced to leave their villages during the 1948 war
on the understanding that they would be allowed by the Government of Israel to
return after the war. Although a few
have been given back their property, the vast majority continue to be displaced
and dispossessed within the State because their lands were confiscated and not
returned to them.
Unrecognized
villages
252. The Committee notes with deep concern that a significant proportion
of Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel continue to live in unrecognized
villages without access to water, electricity, sanitation and roads. Such an existence has caused extreme difficulties
for the villagers in regard to their access to health care, education and
employment opportunities. In addition,
these villagers are continuously threatened with demolition of their home and
confiscation of their land. The
Committee regrets the inordinate delay in the provision of essential services
to even the few villages that have been recognized. In this connection, the Committee takes note that while Jewish
settlements are constructed on a regular basis, no new Arab villages have been
built in the Galilee.
253. The Committee regrets that the Regional Master Plan for the
Northern District of Israel and the Plan for the Negev have projected a
future where there is little place for Arab citizens of Israel whose needs
arising from natural demographic growth are largely ignored.
254. The Committee expresses its grave concern about the situation of
the Bedouin Palestinians settled in Israel.
The number of Bedouins living below the poverty line, their living and
housing conditions, their levels of malnutrition, unemployment and infant
mortality are all significantly higher than the national averages. They have no access to water, electricity
and sanitation and are subjected on a regular basis to land confiscations,
house demolitions, fines for building “illegally”, destruction of agricultural
fields and trees, and systematic harassment and persecution by the
Green Patrol. The Committee notes
in particular that the Government's policy of settling Bedouins in seven
“townships” has caused high levels of unemployment and loss of livelihood.
Other
concerns
255. The Committee notes with regret the large gaps within the Israeli
educational system. Drop_out rates are
higher and eligibility for matriculation certificates is lower within certain segments
of society: Arabs and Jews in poor
neighbourhoods and in development towns, where many of the residents are Jews
of Asian and African origin, including Ethiopian Jews. The Committee is particularly concerned
about the gap in educational expenditure per capita for the Arab sector which
is substantially less than for the Jewish sector.
256. The Committee notes with concern that the recently adopted
Arrangements Law has the effect of eroding the principles of universality
and equality set out in the National Health Insurance Law. The Arrangements Law imposes payments for
medical services in addition to the health tax; a periodic health tax links the
amount of tax required to the amount of health services needed, thereby
increasing inequality in health care.
In spite of assurances that the Knesset sets a cap on such taxes, the
Committee is concerned that this provision does not conform to the Government's
avowed commitment to an equitable health_care system.
257. The Committee notes with grave concern the high incidence of
domestic violence against women which is estimated at 200,000 cases per
year. The Committee is concerned about
the situation of non_Jewish women who are reportedly worse off in terms of
living conditions, health and education.
The Committee is concerned at persistent reports that the Dimona nuclear
plant could pose a serious threat to the right to health and to the environment
unless urgent preventive measures are undertaken.
E. Suggestions and recommendations
258. The Committee requests the State party to provide additional
information on the realization of economic, social and cultural rights in the
occupied territories, in order to complete the State party's initial report and
thereby ensure full compliance with its
reporting obligations. Detailed
information, including the latest statistical data, is also requested on the
progressive realization of economic, social and cultural rights in East
Jerusalem, keeping in mind the concerns raised by the Committee in the relevant
paragraphs of these concluding observations.
In addition, the Committee also requests updated information on the
target dates for recognizing unrecognized villages and a plan for the delivery
of basic services, including water, electricity, access roads, health care and
primary education, to which the villagers are entitled as citizens of
Israel. The Committee requests that the
additional information also include an update of the Outline Plan of Ein Hod
and on progress in the recognition of Arab El_Na'im, as well as an update on
the Jahalin Bedouins who are presently camped in Abu Dis awaiting a court
decision on their resettlement. The
Committee requests the submission of the detailed additional information in
this respect in time for the twenty_third session of the Committee in
November_December 2000.
259. The Committee calls upon the State party to undertake the necessary
steps to ensure the full legal application of the Covenant within the domestic
legal order.
260. The Committee calls upon the State party to ensure equality of
treatment of all Israeli citizens in relation to all Covenant rights.
261. The Committee urges the State party to review the status of its
relationship with the World Zionist Organization/Jewish Agency and its subsidiaries,
including the Jewish National Fund, with a view to remedying the problems
identified in paragraph 237 above.
262. In order to ensure respect of article 1, paragraph 2, of the
Covenant and to ensure equality of treatment and non_discrimination, the
Committee strongly recommends a review of re_entry policies for Palestinians
who wish to re_establish their domicile in their homeland, with a view to
bringing such policies level with the Law of Return as applied to Jews.
263. The Committee calls upon the State party to take all necessary
steps to reduce unemployment and to ensure proper enforcement of Israel's
protective labour legislation, including assigning additional personnel to
enforce such legislation. Special
attention should be accorded to enforcing the Minimum Wage Law, the Equal Pay
for Men and Women Law, and the Equal Opportunities in Employment Law.
264. The Committee calls upon the State party to complete the process of
implementing the Law of Equality for People with Disabilities and to address
the problem of accessibility to public buildings, including schools, and public
transportation by persons with disabilities.
265. The Committee urges the State party to respect the right to
self_determination as recognized in article 1, paragraph 2, of the Covenant,
which provides that “in no case may a people be deprived of its own means of
subsistence”. Closure restricts the
movement of people and goods, cutting off access to external markets and to
income derived from employment and livelihood.
The Committee also calls upon the Government to give full effect to its
obligations under the Covenant and, as a matter of the highest priority, to
undertake to ensure safe passage at checkpoints for Palestinian medical staff
and people seeking treatment, the unhampered flow of essential foodstuffs and
supplies, the safe conduct of students and teachers to and from schools, and
the reunification of families separated by closures.
266. The Committee calls upon the State party to reassess its Permanent
Residency Law with a view to ensuring that its implementation does not result
in impeding the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights by
Palestinians in East Jerusalem. In
particular, the Committee urges the State party to remove the quota system
currently in place so that families separated by residency rules can be
reunited without delay.
267. The Committee calls upon the State party to cease the practices of
facilitating the building of illegal settlements and constructing bypass roads,
expropriating land, water and resources, demolishing houses and arbitrary
evictions. The Committee urges the
State party immediately to take steps to respect and implement the right to an
adequate standard of living, including housing, of the Palestinian residents of
East Jerusalem and the Palestinian Arabs in the mixed cities. The Committee strongly recommends equal
access to housing and settlement on State land for the “present absentees” who
are citizens of Israel. The Committee
recalls in this connection its General Comment No. 4 (1991) on the right to
adequate housing (art. 11, para. 1, of the Covenant). 6/
268. The Committee urges the State party to recognize the existing
Arab Bedouin villages, the land rights of the inhabitants and their right
to basic services, including water.
269. The Committee calls upon the State party to undertake measures
addressing the inequalities in the educational system at the secondary and
university levels, particularly in terms of budget allocations. The Committee recommends that a study be
made of the viability of establishing an Arab university within Israel for the
purpose of ensuring equal opportunities and access to higher education in the
respective official languages.
270. The Committee urges the State party to adopt effective measures to
combat domestic violence against women and to promote equal treatment of women
in the field of employment, including in the Government and in education and
health.
271. The Committee requests the State party to ensure the wide
dissemination in Israel of these concluding observations.
272. The Committee reiterates that the additional information requested
in these concluding observations should be submitted in time for the
twenty_third session of the Committee in November_December 2000.
CYPRUS
273. The Committee considered the third periodic
report of Cyprus on the rights covered
by articles 1 to 15 of the Covenant (E/1994/104/Add.12), along with the written
replies to the list of issues, at its 34th to 36th meetings, held
on 18 and 19 November 1998 and, at its 55th meeting on 3 December
1998, adopted the following concluding observations.
A. Introduction
274. The Committee welcomes the submission of the
third periodic report of Cyprus, which it found to conform generally to its
guidelines on the preparation of reports.
The Committee also expresses appreciation for the submission of
comprehensive written replies to its list of issues, as well as for the
additional information presented by the delegation during the dialogue. It regrets, however, that the report did not
contain sufficient information on obstacles and problems faced in the
implementation of the Covenant.
B. Positive aspects
275. The Committee welcomes the status accorded to
international legal instruments, including the Covenant, in the legal order and
appreciates the fact that they are superior to national law in the legal
hierarchy. It notes that the provisions
of the Covenant can be invoked directly by individuals before the courts.
276. The Committee commends the efforts of the
Government in continuing to provide services, such as electricity supply and
payment of pension benefits, to the population living in the part of the island
that it does not control.
277. The Committee welcomes the recent establishment
of the National Institution for Human Rights as an independent body consisting
of members appointed from the public and private sectors. The Committee notes, however, that the Institution
has not been formally promulgated in law and that its independence has not been
guaranteed.
278. The Committee takes note, with satisfaction, of
the efforts to include human rights in school and university curricula, as well
as the activities being carried out in the country to commemorate the fiftieth
anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
279. The Committee welcomes the abrogation of the
provisions of the Penal Code criminalizing homosexual acts.
280. The Committee also takes note with
satisfaction of the delegation's statement that the report has been widely
publicized among governmental and non_governmental bodies.
281. The Committee welcomes the appointment of an
advisory committee for the purpose of preventing violence in the family and for
providing subsidies to the non_governmental organization Association for the
Prevention and Confrontation of Domestic Violence.
C. Factors and difficulties impeding the implementation of the
Covenant
282. The continuing partition of Cyprus hinders
the ability of the State party to exercise control over its entire territory
and, consequently, to ensure the implementation of the Covenant throughout the
country.
D. Principal subjects of concern
283. The Committee is concerned that no information
is available on the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights by the
Cypriot population living in the area that is not controlled by the Government.
284. The Committee is concerned at the continued
existence of discrimination between men and women, including inequalities in,
among other things, professional opportunities, wages and salaries for work of
equal value (especially in the private sector), protection under social
security, the transmission of nationality to children and the conferment of
refugee status on children (only children of displaced men are so
treated). This appears to be caused by
structural and cultural factors.
285. Domestic workers enjoy little protection
against being forced to work unduly long hours. The State party appears not to provide adequate protection
against repressive and exploitative measures directed at prostitutes. Such persons are particularly vulnerable
because of their fear of retribution from their employers. Moreover, the Committee notes the tendency
of the State party to underestimate the problems.
286. The Committee notes with concern that the
legal minimum wage does not guarantee an adequate standard of living in
the sense of article 7, paragraph (a) (ii) and article 11 of the Covenant,
especially with regard to shop assistants, nurses, clerks and nursery
assistants.
287. The Committee expresses its serious concern at
the incidence of domestic violence against women and children in Cypriot
society. The continuation of this
situation calls into question whether the State party has made its best efforts
to comply with its obligations under articles 10 and 12 of the Covenant. In particular, the Government appears to
have failed to adopt an adequate prevention policy, to enforce fully the existing
legislative measures to combat violence in the family and to assist victims of
such violence.
288. The Committee is alarmed by the allegations of
inhuman or degrading treatment of mentally ill patients in some health
institutions. It stresses that such a
situation constitutes a serious violation of the State Party’s obligations
under articles 2 and 12.
289. The Committee further notes that there are
many bills and other measures concerning economic, social and cultural rights
which are awaiting parliamentary or Cabinet approval, or implementation by
other official bodies, and calls upon the State party to speed the process up
in order to meet obligations existing under the Covenant.
E. Suggestions and recommendations
290. The Committee recommends that the recently
established National Institution for Human Rights be promptly promulgated in
law and that its independence be guaranteed.
291. The Committee recommends that the State party
intensify its efforts to guarantee the equal enjoyment by men and women of
their economic, social and cultural rights, in particular:
(a) By engaging in a large-scale
public awareness campaign to eradicate social prejudices concerning gender
roles;
(b) By taking all necessary steps
to guarantee fully the principle of equal pay for work of equal value, in
particular in the private sector of the economy;
(c) By promulgating the draft
regulations concerning the employment and working conditions of pregnant women
and nursing mothers and ensuring that they comply with the Covenant;
(d) By abrogating the discriminatory
provisions of the social security legislation;
(e) By enacting the bill aimed at
abolishing discrimination in the acquisition and transmission of nationality.
292. The Committee urges the State party to take
all the necessary steps to improve understanding of the nature and scope of the
problems faced by domestic workers, with a view to implementing fully existing
laws. The Committee emphasizes the
necessity:
(a) To initiate campaigns to
raise awareness of this issue among trade unions, women’s organizations and
communities in Cyprus to which the domestic workers belong;
(b) To improve the system of
complaints concerning abuse, with a view to protecting fully the rights of
complainants.
293. The Committee also urges the State party to monitor
more closely the phenomenon of forced prostitution in Cyprus, with a view to
rescuing victims who are trapped or forced into it and to protecting their
rights under the Covenant.
294. The Committee recommends that the State Party
endeavour to take steps to review the existing minimum wage level, in order
fully to comply with its obligations under article 11 of the Covenant.
295. The Committee recommends that the State party
adopt an appropriate policy to prevent and tackle the problem of domestic violence
against women and children in all its complexity and requests that the next
periodic report contain information on measures adopted to deal with it. In this connection, the Committee urges the
State party to financially assist the Association for the Prevention and
Confrontation of Domestic Violence to set up, as soon as possible, its proposed
women's shelter.
296. While taking note of the delegation’s
statement that the situation as regards the treatment of mentally
ill people has improved dramatically, the Committee emphasizes the need
for the State party to review thoroughly its health policy towards those
patients in order best to address all their needs and protect all their human
rights.
297. The Committee requests the State party to
include in its next periodic report comprehensive information on the extent of
drug-addiction in Cyprus and to indicate whether the bill on narcotic drugs and
psychotropic substances now before Parliament has been passed into law, and
also to assess the workings of the anti-narcotic/therapeutic units proposed
under the bill, when it has passed into law.
298. The Committee recommends that bills and
proposed regulations should be speedily submitted for parliamentary or Cabinet
approval, in order to enhance effective application of the Covenant. Such bills and proposals include:
(a) The proposed law relating to
marriage, divorce and family courts;
(b) A bill to regulate the rights
of asylum seekers;
(c) A bill to amend the relevant
law with respect to the nationality of a child born to a Cypriot woman;
(d) A draft law to regulate the
right to strike, to ensure that it conforms fully with ILO Convention No. 87
(1948) concerning freedom of association and protection of the right to
organize;
(e) A bill entitled “National
Health System” which has been before the Cabinet for approval since 1996.
299. Lastly, the Committee requests the State party
to ensure the wide dissemination in Cyprus of the present concluding
observations and to inform the Committee, in its fourth periodic report, of
steps taken to implement the recommendations.
GERMANY
300. The Committee considered the third periodic
report of Germany on the rights covered by articles 1 to 15 of the
Covenant (E/1994/104/Add.14), together with the written replies to the list
of issues, at its 40th to 42nd meetings, held on
23 and 24 November 1998,
and, at its 54th meeting on 2 December 1998,
adopted the following concluding observations.
A. Introduction
301. The Committee welcomes the submission of the
third periodic report, the first report on the rights protected under the
Covenant since the reunification of Germany in October 1990. The report was submitted in general
conformity with the guidelines established by the Committee.
302. The Committee notes with appreciation that the
report was presented by a high_level delegation, which entertained an open and
straightforward dialogue with the members of the Committee. The delegation pointed out at the outset
that the new Government of Chancellor Schröder had a different agenda from that
of the former Government on a wide range of socio-economic issues, and that it
accorded high priority to job creation.
303. The Committee notes that the report was
prepared without the involvement of non-governmental organizations. Their contributions were nevertheless
valuable to the Committee for the consideration of the State party’s report.
304. The Committee notes that some of the replies
given to questions raised in the following areas lacked precision and detail:
(a) Unemployment in the new
Länder;
(b) The number of civil servants
and professionals who were dismissed from their posts in East Germany after the
reunification of Germany;
(c) The number of
poverty_stricken people and social security recipients;
(d) HIV/AIDS victims, the
exploitation of women and child abuse;
(e) Pension plans.
B. Positive aspects
305. The Committee welcomes the very positive
attitude demonstrated by the delegation in its introductory statements, which,
together with the policy statement made by the new Chancellor, on 10 November
1998, leads the Committee to believe that the new Government intends to give
added impetus to the implementation of economic, social and cultural rights.
306. In this connection, a visible shift in policy,
reflected in the new policy statement, could lead to the progressive
realization of economic, social and cultural rights to a fuller extent and
could reduce the still_existing economic gap between the old and new Länder, to
the particular benefit of the new Länder.
307. The Committee notes with satisfaction that
this policy will encompass:
(a) Education and training
programmes to assist young people in general and young women in particular in
finding employment, especially in the new Länder;
(b) Modernization of the law on
nationality to allow for dual nationality;
(c) The elaboration of an action
plan aimed at ensuring equal opportunities to women at work;
(d) The promulgation of the
Gender Equality Act;
(e) The creation of school and
child-care systems that reflect the needs of family life;
(f) The introduction of bills
aimed at eliminating discrimination based on ethnic origin and at prosecuting
Germans for child sexual abuse they commit abroad;
(g) The reform of the pension
system based on the national insurance scheme, company pension schemes and a
private pension scheme;
(h) The participation of
employees in their companies’ productive capital
and profits;
(i) The reintroduction of
protective measures against dismissals, as well as the payment of sickness
allowances.
308. The Committee notes the creation of the post
of Minister of State for Cultural Affairs, who will be responsible for
implementing the federal cultural policy and for liaising with the Länder. In this connection, the Committee notes with
satisfaction that cooperation with churches and religious communities will be
part of that policy, which is intended to enhance the dialogue between
different religious communities and to reduce racial hatred and xenophobia.
309. The Committee takes note of the State Party’s
intention to establish an independent parliamentary human rights commission and
to create a human rights post within the Foreign Ministry.
310. The Committee welcomes the fact that the State
Party is open-minded concerning the elaboration of an optional protocol.
C. Factors and difficulties impeding the
implementation of the Covenant
311. The integration of eastern and western Germany
remains only partly accomplished, despite determined efforts to realize this
objective. This lack of full
integration presents an obstacle to the full implementation of the
Covenant by the State party.
D. Principal subjects of concern
312. The Committee expresses its concern about the
status of the Covenant within the domestic legal system of Germany and at the
lack of court decisions on the application of the Covenant.
313. The Committee notes that unemployment is still
particularly high in Germany and that it is twice as high in the East as in the
West. In this connection, the Committee
notes with regret that women and foreigners are most affected by this high
level of unemployment.
314. The Committee also notes that no poverty line
or threshold has yet been established.
Nor has the delegation of the State party provided information about
people affected by poverty.
315. The Committee also notes with alarm that only
12 per cent of public servants in the science and technology sector of the
former German Democratic Republic, including teachers, scientists and
professionals, have been re_employed and that the rest remain without
employment or adequate compensation or a satisfactory pension plan. The Committee fears that the majority of the
affected people may have been dismissed from their positions for political
rather than for professional or economic reasons, in violation of article 2,
paragraph 2, of the Covenant. It is
noted in this connection that the issue of discrimination in the employment of
teachers in the new Länder was raised in 1993 by the ILO Committee of Experts on
the Application of Conventions and Recommendations. Similar concerns have been raised by German non_governmental
organizations.
316. The Committee is also concerned about the
status of asylum seekers in Germany, especially with regard to the length of time
taken to process their application for refugee status and with regard to their
economic and health rights pending the final decision.
317. The Committee is further concerned about the
plight of the Sinti and Roma (Gypsies) in Germany and about their
enjoyment of their rights to housing, education and employment. The continued discrimination
against the Gypsies calls for immediate remedial policies and measures.
318. The Committee notes that with few exceptions
civil servants in Germany do not enjoy the right to strike, which constitutes a
violation of article 8, paragraph 2, of the Covenant.
319. The Committee is particularly concerned about
violence against women, especially those who fall victim to marriage
trafficking, trafficking for prostitution and exploitation. Statistics are lacking on the number of
persons affected.
320. The Committee is alarmed at the continued
abuse of children and their sexual exploitation. Widespread pornography is of particular concern as it seems to be
linked with the exploitation of children and women.
321. The Committee notes with concern that tuition
fees for university education are increasing, despite the fact that article 13
of the Covenant calls for the progressive introduction of free higher
education.
322. The alarming number of persons affected by
HIV/AIDS in the territory of the State party also causes concern to the
Committee. Lack of statistics on the
subject, especially with regard to the most vulnerable groups of people
residing in Germany, is of special concern.
323. The Committee also expresses its concern about
the plight of homeless people, the actual number of whom is still unknown, as
well as about the plight of squatters in many parts of the country, especially
in the new Länder.
E. Suggestions and recommendations
324. The Committee recommends that the State party
give more prominence to the rights recognized in the Covenant whether by
legislative or by judicial means and/or practices. The policy statement of the new Chancellor presents the hope that
economic, social and cultural rights will be elevated to new heights. The Committee recommends, therefore, that
this new policy be translated into deeds as soon as possible.
325. The Committee requests the State party to
provide in its next report more precise statistics and data regarding
unemployment, especially in the new Länder, and the number and situation
of poverty_stricken people and social security recipients.
326. The Committee strongly recommends that the
State party promote discussion within German society on social indicators or
benchmarks for the implementation of the Covenant. It also encourages the Government to continue to support the
dialogue on the elaboration of an optional protocol to the Covenant in order to
lend greater support to the realization of economic, social and cultural
rights.
327. The Committee requests the State party to take
immediate measures, legislative or otherwise, to address and redress the
situation of the various categories of asylum seekers, in accordance with
General Comment No. 4 (1991) concerning the right to adequate housing (art. 11,
para. 1, of the
Covenant). 6/ It also suggests that the applications of
asylum seekers be processed expeditiously and that refugees be accorded health,
economic and educational rights in accordance with the Covenant.
328. The Committee urges the State party to
implement the various educational programmes for young people and other
vulnerable groups, especially those intended to create employment and to improve
the level of employment in eastern Germany.
329. Pension plans and social security benefits
need thorough revision to ensure gender equality and fairness among all
eligible beneficiaries in all the Länder, in the East and in the West.
330. The Committee recommends that civil servants
not involved in essential services be accorded the right to strike.
331. The Committee calls on the State party to take
affirmative and effective measures against trafficking in women and their
exploitation for whatever purpose.
332. The Committee also calls on the State party to
take effective measures to regulate child labour, in compliance with the
Covenant and the relevant ILO conventions.
333. The Committee further calls on the State party
to make increased efforts to prevent child abuse, child exploitation and child
pornography.
334. The Committee urges the State party to provide
more adequate assistance to persons within HIV/AIDS, without any discrimination
on the basis of race, origin, nationality or gender.
335. As an act of national reconciliation, the
Committee calls on the State party to ensure that compensation will be
provided to civil servants, professionals and scientists associated with the
old regime in the former German Democratic Republic and to ensure that such
compensation is both adequate and fair.
336. The Committee recommends that the State party
avoid increases in university tuition fees, in compliance with article 13 of
the Covenant.
337. The Committee urges the State party to
accelerate the integration of eastern and western Germany on all fronts, with a
view to reducing the gap that may still exist between them.
338. The Committee requests the State party to
disseminate widely its concluding observations at all levels of society and to
inform the Committee of steps taken for their implementation. It also urges the Government to consult with
non_governmental organizations in the preparation of its fourth periodic
report, as German non_governmental organizations have made a valuable contribution
to making the Committee's dialogue with the State party delegation a more
fruitful and significant one.
SWITZERLAND
339. The Committee considered the initial report of
Switzerland on the rights covered by articles 1 to 15
of the Covenant (E/1990/5/Add.33) at its 37th to 39th
meetings, held on 20 and 23 November 1998 and, at its 55th meeting on
3 December 1998, adopted the following concluding observations.
A. Introduction
340. The Committee notes that the report submitted
by the State party has been prepared in accordance with the Committee's
guidelines. It welcomes
the presence of a large and high_level delegation from the capital and
notes that the very high quality of the dialogue was enhanced by the presence
of a specialist to deal with virtually every article of the Covenant.
341. The Committee greatly appreciates the Swiss
delegation's frank, detailed replies to all its questions, which enabled it to
gain an overall idea of the way in which Switzerland is discharging its
obligations under the Covenant.
B. Positive aspects
342. The Committee notes with satisfaction that the
Covenant has begun to be accepted as an integral part of the Swiss legal
system. It notes that the Swiss courts,
and notably the Federal Tribunal, have already on some occasions referred to
the provisions of the Covenant. In this
respect, the Committee notes with satisfaction that the decisions of the
Federal Tribunal seem to have remedied somewhat the shortcomings of the Federal
Constitution regarding articles 9, 11 and 12 of the Covenant.
343. The Committee expresses its appreciation of
the range and quality of the services provided to the population as a whole, in
particular social benefits for elderly persons and the disabled.
344. The Committee notes the large number of
foreigners residing in the State party and welcomes the measures taken by
the authorities to ensure the enjoyment of their economic, social and
cultural rights.
345. The Committee also notes the efforts made by
the Government of Switzerland to integrate foreign workers and their families.
C. Factors and difficulties
impeding the implementation
of the Covenant
346. The Committee notes the absence of any
significant factors or difficulties preventing the effective implementation of
the Covenant in Switzerland.
D. Principal subjects of concern
347. The Committee recognizes that the State
party's federal structure requires that certain rights be provided for by the
cantons, nevertheless it reaffirms the Committee's position that it is the
legal responsibility of the Federal Government to ensure the implementation of
the Covenant.
348. The Committee disagrees with the position of
the State party that provisions of the Covenant constitute principles and
programmatic objectives rather than legal obligations, and that consequently
the provisions of the Covenant cannot be given legislative effect. The Committee does not share the view
of the Swiss authorities and recalls that in its General Comment No.
3 (1990) on the nature of States parties' obligations (art. 2, para. 1, of the
Covenant), 5/ it refers to a number of provisions in the
Covenant, such as those of article 8 on the right to strike and those of
article 13 on the right to education, which seem to be capable of immediate
application within the judicial system.
The Committee is of the view that any suggestion that the
above-mentioned provisions are inherently non_self_executing seems to be
difficult to sustain.
349. The Committee expresses concern at the
situation in the State party where certain Covenant rights are not
constitutionally recognized, i.e. the right to work, to education and to
culture. In the Committee's view, the
freedom to exercise a lucrative activity is not synonymous or co_terminous with
the right to work. In this respect, the
Committee regrets that implementation of these rights has to be sought by
individuals before the Courts, whereas they should be constitutionally
recognized.
350. The Committee notes that despite the high
level of development reached by Switzerland and the strength of its economy,
there exist unacceptable levels of poverty among certain segments of the
population, in particular among women.
351. The Committee, while noting that draft
legislation concerning the right to strike by civil servants is to be put to
popular vote, regrets that this right still remains restricted for civil
servants. The Committee further notes
with concern that the reform of the statute on civil servants currently under
way providing for the privatization of certain public services at the federal,
cantonal and communal levels might infringe upon the acquired rights of civil
servants, as recognized under the Covenant.
352. The Committee is concerned at the
non_ratification by the State party of ILO Conventions Nos. 98 (1949)
concerning the application of the principles of the right to organize and to
bargain collectively and 174 (1993) concerning the prevention of major
industrial accidents.
353. The Committee notes that, despite the
constitutionalization of the right to maternity benefits, the Parliament has
not yet recognized this right. This
does not, in the Committee's view, satisfy the requirements of article 10
that pregnant women should be entitled to adequate social security benefits.
354. The Committee takes the view that despite the
existence of legislation providing protection against discrimination, de facto
discrimination against women and ethnic minorities continues to exist.
355. The Committee notes with concern that, in many
areas, such as access to higher education, access to posts of responsibility
and equal remuneration for work of equal value, equality between men and women
has not yet been achieved in practice.
356. The Committee regrets the relatively high
proportion of women in lower paid jobs and among part_time and “on-call”
workers, and also the comparatively low proportion of women in higher
education.
357. The Committee notes with concern the high
incidence of domestic violence against women, which the State party has
estimated at 110,000 cases per year. It
regrets that the lack of more detailed statistics has not allowed the Committee
to obtain a clear picture of the situation in the State party in this respect.
358. The Committee also regrets that the available
statistical data on violence against women and child abuse, including
paedophilia, have not been analysed and used to formulate measures to address
these problems. It regrets that this
lack of information has prevented both the Government and the Committee from
appreciating the extent of these problems.
359. The Committee is concerned that the State
party's report lacks any information on the mental health of the population as
a whole and on the health of mental patients in particular.
360. The Committee regrets the silence of the
report on abortion and the incidence of diseases particular to women.
361. The Committee expresses its concern that the
ongoing reform of the social security system may have adverse consequences for
the underprivileged sectors of society.
362. The Committee notes with concern the high
costs of health services in Switzerland that are administered by private
companies, which must be paid for in full by both workers and pensioners, to
the consequential detriment of their standard of living.
E. Suggestions and recommendations
363. The Committee suggests that the State party
take appropriate steps to give full legal effect to the Covenant, so that the
rights covered by it may be fully integrated into the legal system.
364. The Committee recommends that the cantonal
laws should be further harmonized, to ensure due respect for the provisions of
the Covenant, particularly with regard to fundamental rights such as the right
to work, education and culture.
365. The Committee recommends that the State party
accord equal treatment to both the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights in terms of their domestic legal status and that if measures
are taken to incorporate civil and political rights treaty obligations
consideration be given to similar measures in relation to economic, social and
cultural rights.
366. The Committee recommends that the draft
legislation concerning the right of civil servants to strike be adopted as soon
as possible, in line with the State party's obligations under article 8,
paragraph 2, of the Covenant.
367. The Committee also recommends that any
modification to the statute on civil servants be formulated in such a way
as to safeguard the acquired rights of civil servants, as guaranteed in the
Covenant.
368. The Committee further recommends early
ratification of ILO Conventions Nos. 98 (1949) and 174 (1993).
369. The Committee recommends that adequate social
security protection be provided to pregnant women and recent mothers. The Committee further emphasizes the
importance of educational campaigns to develop awareness of the problem of
discrimination and recommends that all possible measures be taken, in
particular at the social infrastructure level, to make it easier for women who
wish to work outside the home to do so.
370. The Committee recommends that the State party
intensify its efforts to guarantee men and women equal access to employment and
equal wages for work of equal value.
371. The Committee recommends that the State party
play a more active role in promoting equal access to higher education for
women, immigrants and ethnic minorities.
372. The Committee requests the State party to
provide up_to_date information in its next report on measures taken to combat
the phenomenon of domestic violence and that of paedophilia.
373. The Committee also requests the State party to
provide more detailed information in its next report on the situation of the
mental health of the population and in particular of mental patients in the
country and on progress achieved in this field.
374. The Committee recommends that the State party,
in accordance with article 12, paragraph 2 (d), of the Covenant, review
its systems of health care to prevent the high costs of these from having a
negative effect on the standard of living of families, which is incompatible
with article 11, paragraph 1 of the Covenant.
375. The Committee requests the State party to
disseminate its concluding observations widely among all levels of society and
to inform the Committee on all steps taken to implement them. It also urges the Government to consult with
non_governmental organizations in the preparation of the second periodic report.
CANADA
376. The Committee considered the third periodic
report of Canada on the rights covered by articles 1 to 15 of the Covenant
(E/1994/104/Add.17) at its 46th to 48th meetings, held on 26 and 27
November 1998 and, at its 57th meeting on 4 December 1998, adopted
the following concluding observations.
A. Introduction
377. The Committee expresses its appreciation to
the Government of Canada for the submission of its detailed and extensive
report, which generally follows the Committee’s reporting guidelines, and for
the comprehensive written answers to its list of issues. The Committee notes that, while the
delegation was composed of a significant number of experts, too many questions
failed to receive detailed or specific answers. Moreover, in the light of the federal structure of Canada and the
extensive provincial jurisdiction, the absence of any expert particularly
representing the largest provinces, other than Quebec, significantly limited
the potential depth of the dialogue on key issues. The Committee notes with satisfaction that the Government of
Canada engaged in extensive consultation with non-governmental organizations in
the preparation of the report, that it submitted a core document
(HRI/CORE/1/Add.91) and that it provided supplementary information during the
consideration of the report.
B. Positive aspects
378. The Committee notes that, for the past five
years, Canada has been ranked at the top of UNDP’s Human Development
Index. This indicates that, on average,
Canadians enjoy a singularly high standard of living and that Canada has the
capacity to achieve a high level of respect for all Covenant rights. That this has not yet been achieved is
reflected in the fact that UNDP’s Human Poverty Index ranks Canada tenth on the
list of the industrialized countries.
379. The Committee notes with satisfaction that the
Supreme Court of Canada has not followed the decisions of a number of lower
courts and has held that section 15 (equality rights) of the Canadian Charter
of Rights and Freedoms imposes positive obligations on Governments to allocate
resources and to implement programmes to address social and economic
disadvantage, thus providing effective domestic remedies under section 15 for
disadvantaged groups.
380. The Committee notes with satisfaction that the
Federal Government has acknowledged, in line with the interpretation adopted by
the Supreme Court, that section 7 of the Canadian Charter concerning liberty
and security of the person guarantees the basic necessities of life, in
accordance with the Covenant.
381. The Committee notes with satisfaction that the
Human Rights Tribunal in Quebec has, in a number of decisions, taken the
Covenant into consideration in interpreting Quebec’s Charter of Human
Rights and Freedoms, especially in relation to labour rights.
382. The Committee notes that, in recognition of
the serious issues affecting aboriginal peoples in Canada, the Government
appointed the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, which released a
wide-ranging report in 1996 addressing many of the rights enshrined in the
Covenant.
383. The Committee welcomes the reinstatement by
the Federal Government of the Court Challenges Program, as recommended by the
Committee while reviewing the State Party’s second periodic report. 7/
384. The Committee welcomes the Canadian Human
Rights Commission’s statement about the inadequate protection and enjoyment of
economic and social rights in Canada and its proposal for the inclusion of
those rights in human rights legislation, as recommended by the Committee in
1993.
385. The Committee views as a positive development
the high percentage of women attending university and their increasing
access to the liberal professions traditionally dominated by men. The Committee notes that Canada has one
of the highest percentages of population having completed post_secondary
education and one of the highest percentages of GDP devoted
to post-secondary education in the world.
C. Factors and difficulties
impeding the implementation
of the Covenant
386. The Committee notes that since 1994, in
addressing the budget deficits by slashing social expenditure, the State party
has not paid sufficient attention to the adverse consequences for the enjoyment
of economic, social and cultural rights by the Canadian population as a whole,
and by vulnerable groups in particular.
387. The Committee heard ample evidence from the
State party suggesting that Canada’s complex federal system presents obstacles
to the implementation of the Covenant in areas of provincial jurisdiction. The Committee regrets that, unless a right
under the Covenant is implicitly or explicitly protected by the Canadian
Charter through federal-provincial agreements, or incorporated directly in
provincial law, there is no legal redress available to either an aggrieved
individual or the Federal Government where provinces have failed to implement
the Covenant. The State party’s
delegation emphasized the importance of political processes in this regard, but
noted that they were often complex.
388. While the Government of Canada has consistently
used Statistics Canada’s “low income cut-off” as a measure of poverty when
providing information to the Committee about poverty in Canada, it informed the
Committee that it does not accept the low income cut-off as a poverty line,
although it is widely used by experts to consider the extent and depth of
poverty in Canada. The absence of an
official poverty line makes it difficult to hold the federal, provincial and
territorial governments accountable with respect to their obligations under the
Covenant.
D. Principal subjects of concern
389. The Committee has received information about a
number of cases in which claims were brought by people living in poverty
(usually women with children) against government policies which denied the
claimants and their children adequate food, clothing and housing. Provincial governments have urged upon their
courts in these cases an interpretation of the Canadian Charter which would
deny any protection of Covenant rights and consequently leave the complainants
without the basic necessities of life or any legal remedy.
390. The Committee is deeply concerned at the
information that provincial courts in Canada have routinely opted for an
interpretation of the Canadian Charter which excludes protection of the right
to an adequate standard of living and other Covenant rights. The Committee notes with concern that the
courts have taken this position despite the fact that the Supreme Court of
Canada has stated, as has the Government of Canada before this Committee,
that the Canadian Charter can be interpreted so as to protect these
rights.
391. The Committee is also concerned about the
inadequate legal protection in Canada of women’s rights guaranteed under the
Covenant, such as the absence of laws requiring employers to pay equal
remuneration for work of equal value in some provinces and territories,
restricted access to civil legal aid, inadequate protection from gender
discrimination afforded by human rights laws and the inadequate enforcement of
those laws.
392. The Committee is greatly concerned at the
gross disparity between aboriginal people and the majority of Canadians with
respect to the enjoyment of Covenant rights.
There has been little or no progress in the alleviation of social and
economic deprivation among aboriginal people.
In particular, the Committee is deeply concerned at the shortage of
adequate housing, the endemic mass unemployment and the high rate of suicide,
especially among youth, in the aboriginal communities. Another concern is the failure to provide
safe and adequate drinking water to aboriginal communities on reserves. The delegation of the State party conceded
that almost a quarter of aboriginal household dwellings required
major repairs and lacked basic amenities.
393. The Committee views with concern the direct
connection between aboriginal economic marginalization and the ongoing
dispossession of aboriginal people from their lands, as recognized by the Royal
Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, and endorses the recommendations of the
Commission that policies which violate aboriginal treaty obligations and the
extinguishment, conversion or giving up of aboriginal rights and title should
on no account be pursued by the State party. The Committee is greatly concerned that the recommendations of
the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples have not yet been implemented, in
spite of the urgency of the situation.
394. The replacement of the Canada Assistance Plan
by the Canada Health and Social Transfer entails a range of adverse consequences
for the enjoyment of Covenant rights by disadvantaged groups in Canada. The Government informed the Committee in its
second periodic report in 1993 that the Canada Assistance Plan set national
standards for social welfare, required that work by welfare recipients be
freely chosen, guaranteed the right to an adequate standard of living and
facilitated court challenges of federally-funded provincial social assistance
programmes which did not meet the standards prescribed in the Act. In contrast, the Canada Health and Social
Transfer has eliminated each of these features and significantly reduced the
amount of cash transfer payments provided to the provinces to cover social
assistance. It did, however, retain national
standards in relation to health, thus denying provincial “flexibility” in one
area, while insisting upon it in others.
The delegation provided no explanation for this inconsistency. The Committee regrets that, by according
virtually unfettered discretion to provincial governments in relation to social
rights, the Government of Canada has created a situation in which Covenant
standards can be undermined and effective accountability has been radically
reduced. The Committee also recalls in
this regard paragraph 9 of General Comment No. 3 (1990). 5/
395. The Committee is concerned that
newly-introduced successive restrictions on unemployment insurance benefits
have resulted in a dramatic drop in the proportion of unemployed workers
receiving benefits to approximately half of previous coverage, in the lowering
of benefit rates, in reductions in the length of time for which benefits are
paid and in increasingly restricted access to benefits for part-time
workers. While the new programme is
said to provide better benefits for low-income families with children, the fact
is that fewer low-income families are eligible to receive any benefits at
all. Part-time, young, marginal,
temporary and seasonal workers face more restrictions and are frequently denied
benefits, although they contribute significantly to the fund.
396. The Committee received information to the
effect that cuts of
about 10 per cent
in social assistance rates for single people have been introduced in Manitoba;
35 per cent in those for single people in Nova Scotia; and 21.6 per cent
in those for both families and single people in Ontario. These cuts appear to have had a
significantly adverse impact on vulnerable groups, causing increases in already
high levels of homelessness and hunger.
397. The Committee notes with concern that, in all
but two provinces (New Brunswick and Newfoundland), the National Child
Benefit introduced by the federal government, which is meant to be given to all
children of low_income families, is in fact only given to children of working
poor parents since the provinces are allowed by the federal government to
deduct the full amount of this benefit from the amount of social assistance
received by parents on welfare.
398. The Committee notes with grave concern that
the repeal of CAP and cuts in social assistance rates, social services and
programmes have had a particularly harsh impact on women, in particular single
mothers, who are the majority of the poor, the majority of adults receiving
social assistance and the majority among the users of social programmes.
399. The Committee is gravely concerned that such a
wealthy country as Canada has allowed the problem of homelessness and
inadequate housing to grow to such proportions that the mayors of Canada’s 10
largest cities have now declared homelessness a national disaster.
400. The Committee is concerned that provincial
social assistance rates and other income assistance measures have clearly not
been adequate to cover rental costs of the poor. In the past five years, the number of tenants paying more than 50
per cent of their income towards rent has increased by 43 per cent.
401. The Committee is concerned that, in both
Ontario and Quebec, governments have adopted legislation to redirect social
assistance payments directly to landlords without the consent of recipients,
despite the fact that the Quebec Human Rights Commission and an Ontario Human
Rights Tribunal have found this treatment of social assistance recipients to be
discriminatory.
402. The Committee expresses its grave concern at
learning that the Government of Ontario proceeded with its announced 21.6 per
cent cuts in social assistance in spite of claims that this would force large
numbers of people from their homes.
403. The Committee is concerned that the
significant reductions in provincial social assistance programmes, the
unavailability of affordable and appropriate housing and widespread
discrimination with respect to housing create obstacles to women escaping
domestic violence. Many women are forced,
as a result of those obstacles, to choose between returning to or staying in a
violent situation, on the one hand, or homelessness and inadequate food and
clothing for themselves and their children, on the other.
404. The Committee notes that aboriginal women
living on reserves do not enjoy the same right as women living off reserves to
an equal share of matrimonial property at the time of marriage breakdown.
405. The Committee notes with concern that at least
six provinces in Canada (including Quebec and Ontario) have adopted “workfare”
programmes that either tie the right to social assistance to compulsory
employment schemes or reduce the level of benefits when recipients, who are
usually young, assert their right to choose freely what type of work they wish
to do. In many cases, these programmes
constitute work without the protection of fundamental labour rights and labour
standards legislation. The Committee
further notes that in the case of the province of Quebec, those workfare
schemes are implemented despite the opinion of the Canadian Human Rights
Commission and the decisions of the Human Rights Tribunal that those programmes
constitute discrimination based on social status or age.
406. The Committee notes that Bill 22, “An act to
prevent unionization”, was adopted by the Ontario Legislative Assembly on 24
November 1998. This law denies to
workfare participants the rights to join a trade union, to bargain collectively
and to strike. In response to a request
from the Committee, the Government provided no information in relation to the
compatibility of the law with the Covenant.
The Committee considers the law to be a clear violation of article 8 of
the Covenant and calls upon the State party to take measures to repeal the
offending provisions.
407. The Committee is concerned that the minimum
wage is not sufficient to provide an adequate standard of living for a worker
and his or her family.
408. The Committee is perturbed to hear that the
number of food banks almost doubled between 1989 and 1997 in Canada and that
they are able to meet only a fraction of the increased needs of the poor.
409. The Committee is concerned that the State
party did not take into account the Committee’s 1993 major concerns and
recommendations when it adopted policies at federal, provincial and territorial
levels which exacerbated poverty and homelessness among vulnerable groups
during a time of strong economic growth and increasing affluence.
410. The Committee is concerned at the crisis level
of homelessness among youth and young families. According to information received from the National Council of
Welfare, over 90 per cent of single mothers under 25 live in poverty. Unemployment and underemployment rates are
also significantly higher among youth than among the general population.
411. The Committee is also concerned about
significant cuts in services on which people with disabilities rely, such as
cuts in home care, attendant care and special needs transportation systems, and
tightened eligibility rules for people with disabilities. Programmes for people who have been
discharged from psychiatric institutions appear to be entirely inadequate. Although the Government failed to provide to
the Committee any information
regarding
homelessness among discharged psychiatric patients, the Committee was told that
a large number of those patients end up on the street, while others suffer from
inadequate housing, with insufficient support services.
412. The Committee views with concern the plight of
thousands of “Convention refugees” in
Canada, who cannot be given permanent resident status for a number of reasons,
including the lack of identity documents, and who cannot be reunited with their
families for a period of five years.
413. The Committee views with concern that 20 per
cent of the adult population in Canada is functionally illiterate.
414. The Committee is concerned that loan
programmes for post-secondary education are available only to Canadian citizens
and permanent residents and that recognized refugees who do not have permanent
residence status, as well as asylum seekers, are ineligible for these loan
programmes. The Committee views also
with concern the fact that tuition fees for university education in Canada have
dramatically increased in the past few years, making it very difficult for those
in need to attend university in the absence of a loan or grant. A further subject of concern is the
significant increase in the average student debt on graduation.
E. Suggestions and recommendations
415. The Committee recommends that the State party
consider re_establishing a national programme with specific cash transfers for
social assistance and social services that includes universal entitlements and
national standards and lays down a legally enforceable right to adequate
assistance for all persons in need, a right to freely chosen work, a right to
appeal and a right to move freely from one job to another.
416. The Committee urges the State party to
establish officially a poverty line and to establish social assistance at
levels which ensure the realization of an adequate standard of living for all.
417. The Committee recommends that federal and
provincial agreements should be adjusted so as to ensure, in whatever ways are
appropriate, that services such as mental health care, home care, child care
and attendant care, shelters for battered women and legal aid for non-criminal
matters, are available at levels that ensure the right to an adequate standard
of living.
418. The Committee calls upon the State party to
act urgently with respect to the recommendations of the Royal Commission on
Aboriginal Peoples. The Committee also
calls upon the State party to take concrete and urgent steps to restore and
respect an aboriginal land and resource base adequate to achieve a sustainable
aboriginal economy and culture.
419. The Committee recommends that the National
Child Benefit Scheme be amended so as to prohibit provinces from deducting the
benefit from social assistance entitlements.
420. The Committee recommends that Canada’s
Employment Insurance Plan be reformed so as to provide adequate coverage for
all unemployed workers in an amount and for a duration which fully guarantees
their right to social security.
421. The Committee recommends that the federal,
provincial and territorial governments address homelessness and inadequate
housing as a national emergency by reinstating or increasing, as the case may
be, social housing programmes for those in need, improving and properly
enforcing anti_discrimination legislation in the field of housing, increasing
shelter allowances and social assistance rates to realistic levels, providing
adequate support services for persons with disabilities, improving protection
of security of tenure for tenants and improving protection of affordable rental
housing stock from conversion to other uses.
The Committee urges the State party to implement a national strategy for
the reduction of homelessness and poverty.
422. The Committee calls upon the State party, in
consultation with the communities concerned, to address the situation described
in paragraph 404 above with a view to ensuring full respect for human rights.
423. The Committee recommends that the Government
of Canada take additional steps to ensure the enjoyment of economic and social
rights for people with disabilities, in accordance with the Committee’s General
Comment No. 5 (1990) concerning persons with disabilities. 8/
424. The Committee urges the Government to develop
and expand adequate programmes to address the financial obstacles to
post-secondary education for low-income students, without any discrimination on
the basis of citizenship status.
425. The Committee urges the federal, provincial
and territorial governments to adopt positions in litigation which are
consistent with their obligation to uphold the rights recognized in the
Covenant.
426. The Committee again urges federal, provincial
and territorial governments to expand protection in human rights legislation to
include social and economic rights and to protect poor people in all jurisdictions
from discrimination because of social or economic status. Moreover, enforcement mechanisms provided in
human rights legislation need to be reinforced to ensure that all human rights
claims not settled through mediation are promptly determined before a competent
human rights tribunal, with the provision of legal aid to vulnerable groups.
427. The Committee, as in its review of the second
periodic report of Canada, reiterates that economic and social rights should
not be downgraded to “principles and objectives” in the ongoing discussions
between the federal government and the provinces and territories regarding
social programmes. The Committee
consequently urges the Federal Government to take concrete steps to ensure that
the provinces and territories are made aware of their legal obligations under
the Covenant and that the Covenant rights are enforceable within the provinces
and territories through legislation or policy measures and the establishment of
independent and appropriate monitoring and adjudication mechanisms.
428. The Committee encourages the State party to
adopt the necessary measures to ensure the realization of women’s economic,
social and cultural rights, including the right to equal remuneration for work
of equal value.
429. The Committee also recommends that a greater
proportion of federal, provincial and territorial budgets be directed
specifically to measures to address women’s poverty and the poverty of their
children, affordable day care, and legal aid for family matters. Measures that will establish adequate
support for shelters for battered women, care-giving services and women’s
non_governmental organizations should also be implemented.
430. The Committee urges the federal, provincial
and territorial governments to review their respective “workfare” legislation
in order to ensure that none of the provisions violate the right to work freely
chosen and other labour standards, including the minimum wage, rights which are
not only guaranteed by the Covenant but also by the relevant ILO conventions on
fundamental labour rights and labour standards.
431. The Committee calls upon the federal,
provincial and territorial governments to give even higher priority to measures
to reduce the rate of functional illiteracy in Canada.
432. The Committee recommends that the State party
request the Canadian Judicial Council to provide all judges with copies of the
Committee’s concluding observations and encourage training for judges on
Canada’s obligations under the Covenant.
433. The Committee also recommends that since there
is generally in Canada a lack of public awareness about human rights treaty
obligations, the general public, public institutions and officers at all levels
of Government should be made aware by the State party of Canada’s human rights
obligations under the Covenant. In this
regard, the Committee wishes to make specific reference to its General Comment
No. 9 (1998) on the domestic application of the Covenant (see annex IV below).
434. The Committee recommends that the federal
government extend the Court Challenges Programme to include challenges to
provincial legislation and policies which may violate the provisions of the
Covenant.
435. Finally, the Committee requests the State
Party to ensure the wide dissemination in Canada of the present concluding
observations and to inform the Committee of steps taken to implement these
recommendations in its next periodic report.
Chapter
V
DAY OF
GENERAL DISCUSSION
A. Eighteenth session, 11 May 1998
Globalization and its
impact on the enjoyment of economic,
social
and cultural rights
I. Introduction
436. Recent developments, particularly in the
fields of trade and finance as well as in science and technology, have led to
increasing reference to the phenomenon of “globalization”. While this term has been most often used in
the context of economics, especially to emphasize the impact of market
liberalization and its global consequences, it is also more and more being
used in relation to developments in other spheres in which international
cooperation is seen to be increasingly necessary. It is also a phenomenon which has heavily influenced the outcome
of the series of world conferences that have taken place in recent years at
which members of the international community have committed themselves to take
action in such areas as children (1990), the environment (1992), human
rights (1993), social development and women (1995), food (1996) and, most
recently, the establishment of an international criminal court (1998).
437. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights has expressed the view that the concept of globalization should not be
categorically equated with economic rationality and curtailed government
action. Achieving greater market
interaction among nations and businesses does not automatically ensure that
questions of equity among nations or among individuals will be addressed. Nor has international regulation been
abandoned. It is, in fact, not only
accepted in the traditional government domains of security and law and order,
but is also used extensively in the realms of commerce and justice precisely to
further the goals of liberalization.
The question therefore arises as to how globalization affects the
enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights and to what extent additional
methods need to be explored in order to ensure that developments relating to
globalization are conducive to the promotion of those rights.
438. To explore these aspects of globalization, the
Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights decided to hold a day of
general discussion on the topic on 11 May 1998. It was attended by representatives of ILO, IMF, UNCTAD, UNESCO,
WIPO and the Non_Governmental Liaison Service.
Representatives of the following non_governmental organizations also
participated: American Association of
Jurists, Centre Europe_Tiers Monde, Droit_Solidarité (France), Habitat
International Coalition, the Indian Movement “Tupaj Amaru”, Indigenous World
Association, International Confederation of Free Trade Unions), International
Federation of University Women, International Service for Human Rights and the
International League for the Rights and Liberation of Peoples.
439. In addition, the following institutions and
organizations contributed written materials for the discussion: ILO and WHO, American Association of
Jurists, Foodfirst Information and Action Network International, the Institute
for Agriculture and Trade Policy, and the International Confederation of Free
Trade Unions.
II. Opening remarks
440. The Chairperson of the Committee, Mr. Philip
Alston, introduced the subject of globalization as a complex phenomenon aimed
primarily at the liberalization of markets.
In its extreme version, the role of the State was greatly reduced and
the facilitation of liberalization, whether through privatization or
deregulation, was one of its dominant objectives. The results of existing policies demonstrated their inadequacy in
relation to economic and social rights.
This was evidenced in reports of UNDP, the World Bank and other
statistics_collecting agencies. The
poorest 20 per cent of the world's people owned only 2.3 per cent of the
world's wealth, less than half of the percentage they owned in 1960. Contrary to common belief, the debt crisis
was not an issue of the past; today, according to the World Bank, the
accumulated debt of the 41 most highly indebted poor countries was nearly four
times its level in 1980. In Africa, the
amount spent per capita on debt servicing was twice the amount spent per capita
on primary education and health. Yet
while IMF rigorously monitored loan recipient countries' compliance with loan
conditions for financial reform, it only “lamented” the ill_effects on
economic, social and cultural rights and left them to be dealt with by other
international organizations and bodies.
441. In that regard, the Chairperson noted with
regret that the activities and funding of many international organizations and
bodies that undertook economic and social programmes were being scaled back,
while those of the WTO and the financial institutions were being expanded. He pointed out that while the mandates of
the latter institutions were concerned with questions of finance, economic
structure, structural adjustment, debt and other macro_economic issues, those
questions could not be isolated from their effects on the enjoyment of
economic, social and cultural rights.
However, the programmes pursued by the institutions in question seemed
directed not at addressing the needs of recipient countries or of their peoples
but at promoting the globalization agenda.
He noted that international trade and financial institutions had never
referred in their work to the Covenant, or the obligations thereunder assumed
by the Governments with which they were dealing. The Chairperson expressed regret that the United Nations had
abandoned efforts to formulate a code of conduct for transnational corporations
(TNCs). Moreover, there was a problem
of transparency, particularly in the case of IMF, with regard to the data and
process by which it arrived at policies, decisions and loan conditions.
442. The Chairperson thus argued that globalization
was not value_neutral. It affected the
right to work and to favourable conditions of work, as well as the rights to health
and education. The monitoring of the
enjoyment of those rights could not be left exclusively to a committee of 18
experts with no mandate for monitoring the development of international
financial markets, with no capacity for technical analysis and with diminishing
secretariat
support. It was time for the main international
organizations involved in the globalization process to assume a role in
the promotion and protection of human rights.
III. Statement by the United
Nations High Commissioner
for Human Rights
443. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human
Rights, Ms. Mary Robinson, welcomed the discussion on globalization
and human rights, a timely subject which in her view was only beginning to
receive the attention it deserved and which evidently required greater in_depth
exploration. She drew attention to
efforts being made on several fronts to place economic, social and cultural
rights high on the United Nations agenda, particularly through the Executive
Committees in which she participated actively, and the United Nations
Development Group, in which the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner
for Human Rights was playing a leading role with respect to articulating how
the right to development could be implemented.
She also reported on the sixth workshop on regional arrangements for the
promotion and protection of human rights in the Asian and Pacific region held
in Tehran from 28 February to 2 March 1998, in which 36 diverse countries from
the region had reached agreement on regional arrangements for technical
cooperation. She pledged that she would
ensure wide dissemination of the results of the round_table discussion on
benchmarks for the realization of economic, social and cultural rights, held on
25 March 1998 in Geneva, and chaired by the Chairperson of the Committee.
444. In response to questions from members of the
Committee, the High Commissioner explained that the agreement reached at
the Tehran workshop would allow participating States to proceed with
implementation of international human rights standards at their own pace and
that one of the aims of the exercise was to produce a compendium of good
practices that might serve as models for other countries or regions. In response to other questions, she informed
the meeting that she had undertaken contacts with IMF in relation to the need
to take into consideration the impact of its programmes on human rights,
especially the rights of members of vulnerable groups, and with the World Bank
as part of that organization's efforts in post_conflict situations. Contacts with both institutions were also
taking place within the framework of the Administrative Committee on
Coordination.
IV. Statements by representatives of intergovernmental
organizations
445. Mr. Guy Standing (ILO) highlighted some key
features of the globalization phenomenon.
Change and reactions to it were accelerating at a remarkable pace, which
left the vulnerable much less equipped to cope. From the point of view of labour rights, globalization was encouraging
fragmentation and uncertainty; as TNCs escaped national accountability, the
poor were becoming increasingly disenfranchised, subsidies formerly granted to
labour were being redirected to attract international capital, and the burden
of taxes was shifting increasingly from capital to labour. Mr. Standing pointed to a close correlation
between globalization and the level of social benefits offered in society. The World Bank and IMF had adopted a
minimalist approach to social security, based on strict means_testing. Social services were viewed not as rights
but as grants given by the State and were increasingly being privatized or
semi_privatized. He agreed that it was
very difficult to obtain the data and models that served as the basis for
IMF recommendations. A background
paper submitted by ILO for discussion is contained in
document E/C.12/1998/8.
446. Mr. Grant Taplin (IMF) acknowledged the
problem of transparency. IMF strongly
encouraged countries to make their IMF agreements available to the public and
issued its own Public Information Notice on them, which were publicly
available. With regard to suggestions
that IMF should take responsibility for matters relating to economic and social
rights, he stressed that loans were agreed by decision of the IMF governing
body following negotiations with recipient countries. Recipient countries could not be coerced into consenting to loan
conditions that they did not wish to accept.
Nevertheless, IMF was making efforts to protect human rights, including
through provisions for social programmes in its structural adjustment
programmes, operation of special lending facilities for the “poorest of the
poor”, and attention to labour rights in the context of lending agreements.
447. Mr. Januz Symonides (UNESCO) discussed the
dangers posed by globalization to cultural diversity worldwide. The benefits of free and rapid information
exchange and enhanced enjoyment of freedom of expression were offset by the
culturally homogenizing effect of globalization, which undermined existing
cultural identity and weakened various ethical norms and social cohesion. He cautioned that Governments must continue
to bear the main responsibility for the implementation of human rights. Markets could not replace Governments in the
determination of economic, social, educational and cultural policies or in
providing social services and infrastructure.
448. Mr. A. Woodfield (UNCTAD) presented
globalization as a conflict of ideas between market efficiency and the role of
the State in economic development. He
suggested that that conflict was being won by the market approach and presented
empirical evidence of its negative effects with respect to income inequality
and vulnerability to external shocks.
Liberalization in developing countries had been accompanied by boom and
bust cycles where upper_income groups benefited most from the booms and
lower_income groups were most hurt by the extreme demand compression policies
and higher inflation associated with busts.
Liberalization in trade and investment had also left many countries with
depressed wages owing to increases in labour_intensive imports from low_income
countries. He suggested, however, that
globalization could promote sustained economic growth and improved income
distribution in developing countries if it was preceded by State_led strategic
planning.
449. Mr. Erik Chrispeels (UNCTAD) said that UNCTAD
was preparing a policy paper on human rights and development and that an effort
would be made to ensure that the Committee received UNCTAD documents. While UNCTAD would continue to cooperate
with the Committee, he believed that considerations should be given to the kind
of cooperation desired.
450. Mr. Wend Wendland (WIPO) expressed the strong
support of his organization for article 15 of the Covenant. He enumerated areas in which the protection
and promotion of intellectual property rights was essential,
primarily that of
the development and transfer of technology but also entertainment,
knowledge_based industries, employment in those industries, and exports and
investment, both foreign and local. The
WIPO programme for 1998 and 1999 aimed at the exploration of new ways in which
the intellectual property system could serve as a catalyst for the social and
economic progress of diverse peoples, placing emphasis on traditional
knowledge, the study of folklore protection and the preservation of biological
diversity. In commemoration of the
fiftieth anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights, WIPO planned to organize an expert panel on the relationship between
intellectual property rights and economic, social and cultural rights. In response to requests by members that WIPO
participate more actively in the work of the Committee to help it better monitor
the implementation of article 15 of the Covenant, as well as to comments and
questions by other participants, Mr. Wendland agreed that closer cooperation
with the human rights mechanisms was needed.
The new biennium programme for 1998_1999 had only been approved six
weeks previously. As those types of
activities were new to WIPO, the initial focus was on studying the issues. His presence at the day of general
discussion and the active participation of WIPO in other forums, such as the
Working Group on Indigenous Populations of the Sub-Commission on Prevention of
Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, were first steps by WIPO towards
improving that cooperation. He
suggested that WIPO and the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
should undertake to help each other better understand the human rights aspects
of intellectual property rights.
451. Mr. Hamish Jenkins (Non-Governmental Liaison
Service) reported on the results of a seminar organized jointly on 26 March
1998 in Geneva by the Non_Governmental Liaison Service of the United Nations
and the International Service for Human Rights on the theme of globalization,
income distribution and human rights.
NGLS was motivated to facilitate discussion on those issues to help
bridge the gap between economists and human rights specialists. He cited one speaker's reference to the
prevailing tendency to treat economic rationality as distinct from social
aspirations. The seminar aimed to
analyse two reports, one of the Special Rapporteur of the Sub-Commission on
Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities on income
distribution and human rights (E/CN.4/Sub.2/1998/8) and the 1997 Trade and
Development Report produced by UNCTAD.
Both reports associated globalization with mounting inequalities,
between as well as within nations. Mr.
Jenkins expressed regret that few of the arguments used by development NGOs
were framed in terms of the human rights instruments. The Non-Governmental Liaison Service called upon the Committee to
consider the proposal by the Special Rapporteur to establish a “Social Forum”
that would bring economists and human rights specialists together for an
institutionalized discussion on the relationship between globalization and
human rights.
V. Statements by representatives of non-governmental
organizations
452. Mr. Dan Cunniah (International Confederation
of Free Trade Unions) made a statement additional to the written contribution
of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions to the discussion
(E/C.12/1998/4). He considered that the
liberalization of world markets had led directly to greater impoverishment of
most developing countries. The Asian
crisis was a test for globalization; whether the international community could
respond by constructing a social dimension to globalization would determine the
stability of the process. In trying to
lower costs of production, firms were searching the world for workers willing
to work longer hours, with the lowest level of pay and social security
benefits. Large companies were merging,
not to cover losses but to increase their profits. Mr. Cunniah expressed the hope that at the forthcoming second
ministerial meeting of the WTO concrete decisions would be taken on the
question of international labour standards.
453. Ms. Conchita Poncini (International Federation
of University Women) drew attention to the unequal effects globalization was
having on women and men. According to
UNCTAD, women dominated the labour market in export_oriented production (70 per
cent). The right to work had
traditionally been based on a male conception of employment in the formal
sector of the economy. That model had
failed to recognize the many forms of remunerated and unremunerated labour that
women performed. The Human
Development Report 1995 projected that by the year 2000, half of the
world's active population would be women, but that 94 per cent of them
would be working in the informal sector and only two thirds would be
engaged in remunerated work.
Furthermore, conditions of employment for women in a globalized economy
were not likely to improve. Among
several suggestions for narrowing gender inequalities in the context of
globalization, Ms. Poncini said that attention should be paid to ensuring that
the skills of women and men were equitably upgraded and that women were not
crowded out of industries as they become more sophisticated.
454. Mr. Alejandro Teitelbaum (American Association
of Jurists) noted that while the production of goods and services had increased
greatly in recent decades, problems such as malnutrition, lack of health care
and impoverished living conditions had, paradoxically, worsened. The devices that engendered globalization
also facilitated trade in non_products, such as illegal drugs. The process of globalization was
irreversible; the urgent question was who was directing it. Globalization had taken real power from
States and vested it in an apparatus governing the world's political,
financial, economic and military systems, consisting principally of the Group
of Seven, IMF, the World Bank, WTO (and, by extension, the major transnational
corporations), the Security Council and the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization. Mr. Teitelbaum called
upon international organizations, particularly the United Nations system, to
play a role in helping nations and peoples win back the fundamental right and
ability to direct the course of their lives.
The American Association of Jurists contributed two written
contributions to the discussion, which were available in documents
E/C.12/1998/6 and 7.
455. Mr. Stephen Marks (International Service for
Human Rights) referred to recent discussions between the Office of the United
Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and UNDP, in which the participation
of UNDP in the work of the Committee had been explored. In a recently concluded memorandum of
understanding between the two institutions, UNDP had pledged to assume an
advocacy role for human rights. Mr.
Marks had suggested several ways in which UNDP and the Committee could
contribute to each other's work. UNDP
could assist the Committee in the development of benchmarks for monitoring
economic, social and cultural rights; share its country profiles on States
whose reports were due to be examined by the Committee; contribute staff and
resources to the Committee in a way comparable to the role played by UNICEF in
relation to the Committee on the Rights of the Child; and modify its resource
allocations to facilitate better implementation of the Covenant, as foreseen in
article 22. For its part, the
Committee could assist UNDP in developing an understanding of a “rights
perspective” in its work, particularly with respect to the Covenant, and help
it integrate that understanding into the work of UNDP and its country
cooperation framework.
456. Ms. Marie_Dominique Govin (International
Service for Human Rights) spoke on three other salient results of the seminar
organized on 26 March 1998 by the International Service for Human Rights and
the Non-Governmental Liaison Service of the United Nations. The first was the question of income
distribution and human rights. Income
distribution was an indicator within any society of how power was distributed
and, while economies had developed rapidly in recent years, income distribution
had deteriorated. Second, the important
role of civil society had been raised at the seminar. The process of globalization carried along with it the
globalization of standards, which was resulting in a new system of ethics in
various communities. Lastly, the
seminar had discussed the proposal of the Special Rapporteur of the
Sub_Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities on
income distribution and human rights to establish a “Social Forum”, with the
participation of the Committee. The
Special Rapporteur had proposed that the social forum be established within the
Sub_Commission and that it should, inter alia, propose legal standards
on income distribution, poverty and human rights, and consider follow_up to the
World Summit for Social Development (Copenhagen, 1995) and the Earth Summit
(United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, Rio de Janeiro,
1992).
457. Mr. Nuria Albala (on behalf of
Droit_Solidarité (France) and the International League for the Rights and Liberation
of Peoples) drew attention to the proposed draft investment agreements that
were under discussion at both the OECD and WTO. The Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI) was most
disturbing, as its dispute_settlement mechanisms only addressed inter_State
disputes but did not allow for complaints to be filed against investors. Mr. Albala urged the Committee to
request that the Economic and Social Council authorize an in_depth study of the
compatibility of MAI with the Covenant.
458. Mr. Miloon Kothari (Habitat International
Coalition) presented several problematic aspects, from a human rights
perspective, of MAI, which had been characterized by some as a “bill of rights
and freedoms for transnational corporations”.
Legally, such international trade and investment agreements could be
incompatible with multilateral human rights and environmental treaties. An initial review of MAI had led to strong
suspicions that this was the case.
Second, the human rights concept of non_discrimination ran counter to
that used in the context of trade_investment liberalization; measures to
eliminate discrimination and promote equality of vulnerable groups, which often
required positive action by the State, might be subject to challenge as
discriminatory by trade and investment bodies.
In addition, the agreement contained no binding obligations on corporate
conduct in regard to human rights; corporate conduct would at best be governed
by voluntary codes. A large and growing
NGO coalition had worked to mobilize public opinion and Governments to act
against MAI. Mr. Kothari suggested that
the Committee might raise a voice by:
calling for an immediate technical review of the impact of the proposed
MAI on human rights; demanding full recognition of survival rights; calling for
the establishment of a committee on trade, investment and human rights within
WTO, IMF and OECD; considering the formulation of a general comment on
obligations in relation to transnational corporations; and when examining the
reports of States parties raising the matter of their human rights obligations
in respect of future agreements.
459. Mr. Malik Özden (Centre Europe_Tiers Monde)
expressed the belief of Centre Europe_Tiers Monde that globalization was an
obstacle to the realization of economic, social and cultural rights,
particularly the rights contained in articles 1 and 2 of the Covenant. The demands made by the World Bank and IMF
in conferring loans to developing countries resulted in decreased social
services, increased unemployment and a diminished role for the State. The international trade agreements being
negotiated aimed at protecting the monopolies of transnational corporations,
reducing their operation costs and facilitating tax evasion. Centre Europe_Tiers Monde urged the Committee
to undertake an in_depth study of the role of the international financial
institutions and to recommend that the Economic and Social Council examine the
compatibility of MAI with the Covenant.
460. Mr. Lázaro Pary (Indigenous World Association
and the Indian Movement “Tupaj Amaru”) supported the view that the activities
of transnational corporations were directly linked with the enjoyment of
economic, social and cultural rights.
Host countries were losing their capacity to exert influence or jurisdiction
over branches of TNCs in their territories.
Mr. Pary believed it essential that measures be taken to establish the
nationality of transnational corporations and that clear rules be drawn up
regarding responsibility for such social phenomena as environmental pollution
and poverty. He urged the Committee to
give priority to setting up a working group on the effects of the activities of
transnational corporations on the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural
rights, on the right to development and on civil and political rights. The working group could also examine how
capital was being transferred from poor to rich countries, including in the
form of interest, debt servicing, speculation and money laundering, and look
into the exploitation of natural resources by TNCs and their responsibilities
with regard to the rehabilitation of the environment.
461. As a result of the rich exchange that took
place during the day of general discussion, the Committee adopted a statement
on globalization and economic, social and cultural rights (for the text, see
chap. VI below).
B. Nineteenth session, 30 November 1998
The right to education
(articles 13 and 14 of the International
Covenant on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights)
I. Introduction
462. On 30 November 1998, the Committee held a day
of general discussion on the right to education, as enshrined in articles 13
and 14 of the Covenant (see E/C.12/1998/SR.49 and 50). The Committee had decided, during its
eighteenth session, to devote its day of general discussion to the right
to education, in connection with the recent inclusion of this question on
the agenda of the Sub_Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and
Protection of Minorities as well as of the Commission on Human Rights. Indeed, at its forty‑ninth
session in August 1997, the Sub‑Commission
adopted resolution 1997/7 in which it requested one of its experts,
Mr. Mustapha Mehedi, to prepare a working paper on the right to
education with the purpose of explaining “the content of the right to
education, taking account, in particular, of its social dimension and the
freedoms it includes and of its dual civil and political rights and economic,
social and cultural character”. This
document was submitted to the Sub_Commission at its fiftieth session in
August 1998 (E/CN.4/Sub.2/1998/10).
The Commission on Human Rights, at its fifty_fourth session,
decided to appoint a Special Rapporteur, whose mandate will focus on the right
to education (resolution 1998/33).
Following this decision, in September 1998
Ms. Katarina Tomasevski was named to this post.
463. Participants in the day of general discussion
included:
- Ms. Ruth
Bonner, International Baccalaureate Organization;
- Ms. Annar
Cassam, Director, UNESCO Liaison Office in Geneva;
- Mr. Fons
Coomans, Maastricht University (Netherlands), Department of Public Law;
- Mr.
Bertrand Coppens, Regional Representative and Director a.i., European Office,
UNDP;
- Mr. Alfred
Fernandez, Director_General, International Organization for the Development of
Freedom of Education;
- Ms. W.
Gordon, Director, Section for Primary Education, Division of Basic Education,
Education Sector, UNESCO;
- Mr. Paul
Hunt, University of Waikato (New Zealand);
- Mr. George
Kent, University of Hawaii (United States of America);
- Mr. Miloon
Kothari, Habitat International Coalition, Geneva;
- Mr.
Mustapha Mehedi, Member of the Sub‑Commission on Prevention of
Discrimination and Protection of Minorities;
- Mr. Patrice
Meyer‑Bisch, University of Fribourg (Switzerland);
- Ms.
Mercedes Moya, American Association of Jurists;
- Ms. Bilge
Ogun_Bassani, Deputy Director, Regional Office for Europe, UNICEF;
- Ms.
Conchita Poncini, International Federation of University Women;
- Ms. Kaisa
Savolainen, Director, Department of Education for a Culture of Peace, Education
Sector, UNESCO;
- Ms.
Katarina Tomasevski, Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights on
the right to education.
464. The Committee had before it the following
background papers:
(a) State obligations,
indicators, benchmarks and the right to education by Paul Hunt (University
of Waikata, New Zealand) (E/C.12/1998/11);
(b) The right to quality
education by George Kent (University of Hawaii, United States of America)
(E/C.12/1998/13);
(c) Right to education: survey and prospects by Alfred Fernandez,
director-general, and Jean_Daniel Nordmann, principal adviser,
International Organization for the Development of Freedom of Education
(E/C.12/1998/14);
(d) The right to education by the
World University Service (E/C.12/1998/15);
(e) The right to education as a
human right: an analysis of key aspects
by Fons Coomans (Maastricht University, Netherlands) (E/C.12/1998/16);
(f) The right to education in the
context of cultural rights by Patrice Meyer_Bisch (University of Fribourg,
Switzerland) (E/C.12/1998/17);
(g) The right to education by
Katarina Tomasevski, Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights
(E/C.12/1998/18);
(h) Violations of the right to
education by Audrey Chapman, Director and Sage Russell, Senior
Programme Associate, Science and Human Rights Programme, American Association
for the Advancement of Science, Washington D.C. (E/C.12/1998/19);
(i) The right to education and
programmes to remedy inequalities by Ferrán Ferrer (Autonomous University
of Barcelona, Spain) (E/C.12/1998/20);
(j) Considerations on indicators
of the right to education by Zacharie Zachariev (E/C.12/1998/21);
(k) How to measure the right to
education: indicators and their
potential use by the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights by
Isabell Kempf, Programme Management Officer, United Nations
Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (E/C.12/1998/22);
(l) Comparative analysis of the
right to education by José L. Gómez del Prado (E/C.12/1998/23).
II. Opening remarks
465. The Chairperson of the Committee, Mr. Alston,
opened the day of general discussion by welcoming the appointment of Ms.
Tomasevski as Special Rapporteur of the Commission, on the right to education,
as well as Mr. Mehedi's working paper on the right to education.
466. The Chairperson reiterated his concern about
the persistent lack of recognition of economic, social and cultural rights,
including the right to education, as human rights, not only at the national
level but also in various international entities. At best, they are considered economic and social goals, not
rights. He emphasized in particular the
lack of visibility of the provision contained in article 14 of the
Covenant. Recalling the unique
character of this provision (which has no equivalent in other international
human rights instruments enshrining the right to education), he deplored that
so far not one State party had reported on its implementation.
467. Referring to the numerous calls by the
Secretary‑General and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human
Rights for increased collaboration in the field of human rights among
United Nations organs, specialized agencies and the various parts of the
Secretariat, Mr. Alston stressed the need to build up a genuine partnership
aiming at realizing the right to education as embodied in articles 13 and
14 of the Covenant. This applied
equally to the various treaty bodies.
468. The Chairperson also welcomed the forthcoming
publication by UNICEF of The State of the World's Children, 1998,
devoted this year to education. He
emphasized that UNICEF was one of the only global bodies that consistently and
correctly characterized education as a human right.
III. Education
as a human right and the right to education in the context of the
indivisibility of human rights
469. The representatives of UNESCO underlined that
for 50 years UNESCO had been acting in favour of the realization of the right
to education, which was actually its raison d'être. Two main dimensions could be identified in
its efforts: the work geared towards
guaranteeing access to school and the
efforts to create
an environment conducive to the realization of the right to education. While significant progress had been achieved
in relation to the first dimension, many obstacles still had to be overcome in
many parts of the world to create a positive school environment. “Factors of resistance” related to the lack
of teachers' education, the absence of an “environment to learn”, the
insufficient number and limited access to textbooks, the gap between the
children's own experiences and formally structured education (between “home and
school”), the teaching methods, etc.
Ms. Gordon emphasized that today the production and distribution of
textbooks were currently serious problems in many countries: the private sector considered it not to be
profitable and even the World Bank and the IMF had expressed reluctance to
provide funding. Moreover, in many poor
countries, the book industry in general was hardly ever considered a priority
investment area. And beyond textbooks,
the publishing industry provided little literature of any type to encourage
reading among children.
470. Ms. Gordon noted that fragmentation of
approaches and efforts constituted a major obstacle to the full realization of
the right to education. She called upon
the Committee to explore ways to overcome the problem.
471. Mr. Coppens explained that though UNDP,
unlike UNESCO or UNICEF, did not have a particular responsibility or mandate
for education, it saw it as a privileged means, along with other social
services, to eradicate poverty.
472. In a recent policy document entitled Integrating
human rights with sustainable development, UNDP had undertaken to address
all aspects of its work from a human rights perspective. It was currently endeavouring to translate
those principles into practical action at field level, although that at times
generated some strains at the government level.
473. UNDP policy on the right to education was
contained in its objective of sustainable human development, in the follow‑up
to the 1990 World Conference on Education for All and in the rights_based
approach to development. The Human
Development Report 1997 had included a statistical measure of poverty, the
Human Poverty Index, that set the right to education at the centre of the
sustainable human development process and provided an insight into the nature
of poverty that income measures alone failed to provide. The report had determined that poverty
eradication could not be achieved by relying solely on economic growth and
macroeconomic stability and concluded that poverty in itself was also a denial
of human rights, a statement that had generated some strong opposition.
474. UNDP's poverty eradication programmes focused
on the structural inequalities in society and, in the educational field, aimed
at free and compulsory education for all.
UNDP considered that education did not necessarily have to be provided
through formal schooling, and gave considerable attention to education outside
the traditional school setting, which could last throughout life. One vehicle for the delivery of education
was the “20/20 initiative” calling for the assignment of 20 per cent
of national budgets and 20 per cent of development assistance to the
social sector, including education.
475. Success in education programmes was dependent
on understanding the reasons why a person lacked schooling and determining the
responsibilities of the various partners in the education process. UNDP's financial assistance to basic
education was directed to primary education and alternative programmes, early
childhood development, basic education for youth and adults, and education
through traditional and modern media and social action. Special attention was paid to linking
education with sustainable livelihoods, health care and related services, and
community development. The education of
women and girls remained a central theme of UNDP's support.
476. Ms. Ogun_Bassani introduced her statement
by recalling that the right to education was central to the enjoyment of all
other human rights; yet, the world had about 850 million illiterate
people. Presenting UNICEF's strategy
for the realization of the right to education, as contained in the 1998 Annual
Report focusing on education, Ms. Ogun_Bassani emphasized that UNICEF
wished to focus on clear, limited objectives.
The top priority remained the 130 million children who were not now
attending any kind of educational establishment. Efforts should concentrate where results could realistically be
expected. Immediate action in the
five countries where half of the 130 million children lived (India,
Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nigeria and Ethiopia) could help to resolve a large part
of the problem.
477. UNICEF had defined its goals with respect to
the realization of the right to education as follows:
(a) By the year 2005, eliminate
gender disparity in primary education and achieve a second enrolment rate of
80 per cent;
(b) By the year 2010, have
90 per cent of children in school and ensure that they learn what
they need to learn;
(c) By the year 2015, have all
children enrolled in school and remaining there until at least grade 5.
478. While proximity and affordability remained two
major obstacles to the enjoyment of the right to education of many children of
the world, the lack of political will was the first problem to be overcome.
479. Ms. Ogun_Bassani also mentioned that UNICEF
would shortly be launching a political mobilization campaign among the industrialized
nations with the aim of creating public awareness about the need for basic
education and to bring public pressure to bear to supplement national resources
in the poorest developing countries.
Financial resources and technical cooperation should be mobilized for
the strict fulfilment of the identified goals and targets.
480. Ms. Tomasevski pointed out that the Committee
was very well placed to examine indivisibility, resource allocation and non‑discrimination
in the context of the right to education in a manner that avoided the
fragmentation of the existing debate, which was largely a reflection of the
diversity of the instruments underpinning that right.
481. Reacting to the introductory statements by the
specialized agencies, several members of the Committee expressed the opinion
that the responsibility for the realization of the right to education lay
primarily with national Governments, emphasizing that many States violated
their obligation to devote a sufficient portion of the national budget to
education. Members stressed the need
for the Committee to take a stand on this issue.
482. Mr. Meyer‑Bisch stressed that if a
country did not enjoy the necessary financial resources to implement the right
to education for all, it had the obligation to accept assistance from
partners. He emphasized, though, that
it was mainly the political price of the right to education for all, rather
than resource mobilization, that frightened many Governments, since implementing
the right to education presumed the provision of other, concomitant cultural
rights, such as linguistic freedom, minority rights, cultural identity and
access to cultural properties. The
right to education could not be ensured without taking into consideration its
important cultural dimensions. The
right to education could be implemented more efficiently only by adopting more
complex approaches than was currently the case, based on the recognition of all
cultural rights.
483. Other experts and representatives of
specialized agencies reaffirmed the need to recognize cultural rights and to
relate them to the education system. Addressing Mr. Sadi's concern about
the impact of globalization on the content of the textbooks and the curricula
taught in public schools, Mr. Hunt said that a distinction needed to be
made between rights being uniform in their application (“flattening out
diversities”) and rights being universal
(“incorporating
universal values”). Article 15 of
the Covenant could serve as an important antidote to the tendency to homogenize
and iron out differences and diversity.
484. Mr. Kent noted that highly centralized funding
structures tended not to accommodate diversity. Conversely, if the centres of decision‑making were
diversified, more possibilities would exist for accommodating diverse cultures
and other diverse interests.
IV. Cooperation among United Nations organs and
specialized agencies, including the human rights treaty bodies: partnership for
the realization of the right to education
485. In view of the current fragmentation of
efforts aimed at the realization of the right to education, most
representatives of specialized agencies and experts called for increased
cooperation among the specialized agencies and the human rights treaty bodies,
as well as with other partners (such as individual experts and non‑governmental
organizations). Emphasis was put on the
urgent need to strengthen collaboration at the national level. Several participants urged the Committee to
take the lead and/or act as a catalyst for exploring ways to develop further
such cooperation.
486. A number of concrete proposals were formulated
by participants, including:
(a) To build up institutional
mechanisms to ensure full cooperation between the Committee and its possible
partners, by exploring ways suggested by the Covenant itself (e.g. in
arts. 11, 18 and 23) (Mr. Hunt);
(b) To examine the goals and
targets established by UNICEF to see how and where they might be used in the
Committee's ongoing dialogue with States parties (Ms. Ogun‑Bassani);
(c) To focus on collaboration at
the national level to implement article 14 of the Covenant (Ms. Miller);
(d) To set up adequate
cooperation mechanisms for identifying relevant indicators and benchmarks to
monitor the right to education;
(e) To increase cooperation with
the Committee on the Rights of the Child, including by inviting a member of the
Committee on the Rights of the Child for the next day of general discussion (if
the theme was of common interest), by drafting a joint general comment on the
right to education, and by setting up a small working group, composed of
members of both Committees, to revise and harmonize the guidelines for the
drafting of States parties' reports with respect to the right to education
(Mr. David);
(f) To set up a working group
composed of members of various human rights treaty bodies to harmonize the
guidelines for the drafting of States parties' reports, as far as matters of
common competence were concerned (Mr. Kent);
(g) To undertake a study aiming
at the integration of the various views adopted by other treaty bodies on the
issue of discrimination in the enjoyment of the right to education
(Ms. Tomasevski).
V. Relevance of the normative approach
487. Mr. Alston explained that this part of the
debate was about the question whether education had to be considered as a human
right or a fundamental objective of economic and social policies and the
difference which the use of the respective terminology could make.
488. Whereas Ms. Tomasevski noted that the World
Declaration on Education for All (Jomtien Declaration) 9/ contained no human rights wording, the
representatives of UNESCO emphasized that the Jomtien Declaration had
contributed to defining the content of the right to education. Ms. Savolainen noted that the
normative approach had been interpreted as a “top‑down” process, from
which a certain distance was taken nowadays.
489. The Chairperson underlined that this was one
possible interpretation, but that it should be borne in mind that all human
beings, in particular children, were the subjects of the human right to
education, which entitled them to claim its realization. He added that he felt, along with
Ms. Tomasevski, that the “Jomtien approach” could not be qualified as a
human rights approach, even if there were a mention of the phrase right to
education towards the end of the Declaration.
VI. Core content of the right to education
490. There was general agreement with Mr. Coomans,
according to whom four elements made up the core content of the right to
education as enshrined in article 13 of the Covenant; violation of one or more
of those elements by a State would entail the right losing its material and
intrinsic value.
491. First, the essence of the right to education
meant that no one shall be denied a right to education. In practice, this meant an individual right
of access to available education or, in more concrete terms, the right of
access to the existing public educational institutions on a non‑discriminatory
basis.
492. A second element would be the right to enjoy
basic (primary) education in one form or another, not necessarily in the form
of traditional classroom teaching. This
would include basic education for adults (literacy courses, basic professional
training). Primary education must be
compulsory and free. This core element
would also mean that no one, for example parents or employers, could withhold a
child from primary education. A State
had an obligation to protect this right from encroachments by third persons.
493. A third element was free choice of education
without interference by the State or a third person, in particular but not
exclusively with regard to religious or philosophical convictions.
494. The fourth element would be the right of
national, ethnic or linguistic minorities to be taught in the language of their
choice, in institutions outside the official system of public education. This, according to Mr. Coomans, did not
imply that a State must allow the use of this language as the only medium of
instruction, nor that the State had the obligation to fund those institutions.
495. Mr. Riedel and Mr. Alston emphasized that,
while they agreed with such core content, it could not be interpreted as a
standard inferior to the content of article 13, paragraph 2, of the Covenant,
which was not limited to primary education.
496. Mr. Mehedi expressed the wish to see academic
freedom added to the core content as defined above, insofar as primary,
secondary or tertiary education was concerned.
497. Ms. Tomasevski said that it was of paramount
importance to overcome the reluctance of parents to send their daughters to
school and that she would add an element dealing explicitly with non‑discrimination
based on gender. She would even go
further, by providing that the State should subsidize girls' education and take
positive actions in that respect. In
poor countries, girls' education should not only be free, but should also be
supported by incentives to parents.
VII. Nature of State obligations, indicators
and benchmarks
498. Mr. Hunt pointed out that there remained
considerable uncertainty about the precise nature and extent of some of the
legal obligations arising from the Covenant.
These doubts persisted for a number of reasons, one being the wording of
article 2, paragraph 1, which included some notoriously elusive phrases
and concepts, two of which had particular relevance to indicators and
benchmarks: States parties undertake to
“achieve progressively” the full realization of the enumerated rights to “the maximum
of their available resources”. Both
phrases had two crucial implications.
First they implied that some (but not necessarily all) States parties'
obligations under the Covenant might vary from one State to another. Second, they implied that, in relation to
the same State party, some (but not necessarily all) obligations under the
Covenant might vary over time. These
variable elements of States parties' obligations under the Covenant contributed
to the sense of uncertainty which remained a feature of international economic,
social and cultural rights.
499. However, an examination of the Covenant and of
the Committee's jurisprudence disclosed three interrelated and overlapping
dimensions to States parties' legal obligations:
(a) Obligations applying
uniformly to all States parties.
These obligations were not subject to notions of progressive realization
and resource availability; they applied uniformly around the world to all
States parties whatever their stage of economic development. They included, for example, the principle of
non_discrimination. Thus, if a State
party excluded girls from any State school, it breached the Covenant;
(b) A minimum core content for
each right. According to the
Committee, it was incumbent upon every State party to ensure the satisfaction
of, at the very least, minimum essential levels of each right set out in the
Covenant. Without minimum core obligations, the Covenant was largely
deprived of its raison d'être.
Much work still had to be done to define the minimum core content of
each right. Once defined, however, it
should apply to all States parties whatever their stage of economic
development. In other words, the
minimum core content would not be subject to the notions of progressive
realization and resource availability;
(c) The variable dimension. Because of the progressive realization and
resource availability provisions of article 2, paragraph 1, the precise content
of at least some State obligations was likely to vary from one State to another
_ and over time in relation to the same State.
500. Human rights indicators and benchmarks could
help all interested parties identify and monitor these variable or shifting
State obligations.
501. There
was a consensus among the members of the Committee on the urgent need to set up
a working group that would make use of all available expertise to formulate
such indicators and benchmarks. Several
participants stressed that such an exercise should take full account of all aspects
of the indivisibility principle. Once
identified, the indicators and benchmarks should be adequately incorporated
into the Committee's guidelines for the drafting of States parties'
reports. Mr. Texier emphasized that due
consultation with all interested parties, in particular with the specialized
agencies, was of paramount importance, since it would be disastrous for various
United Nations organs and agencies to use
different parameters to monitor the realization of the right to education. Ms. Poncini requested that NGOs be included
in the working group on indicators and benchmarks.
502. It was felt by some participants that Ms.
Kempf's written contribution was particularly valuable as a starting point for
the technical work on indicators and benchmarks.
503. Ms. Ogun‑Bassani explained that UNICEF
considered that monitoring the achievement of its goals for the realization of
the right to education would be fairly simple.
Basically, 4 of the 18 indicators identified during the World Conference
on Education for All would be used, namely:
(a) The net enrolment ratio
(NER), i.e. the enrolment in primary education of the official primary school
age group as a percentage of the corresponding population;
(b) The NER gender breakdown;
(c) The percentage of pupils
having reached at least grade 4 of primary schooling who mastered a set of
nationally defined basic learning competencies;
(d) The survival rate to grade 5,
i.e. the percentage of the cohort actually reaching grade 5.
She added that
such data would be collected in all States and made available by electronic
means, including the Internet, within two years.
504. Ms. Gordon emphasized that traditional
indicators should not be the only focus of the Committee. All factors of progress should be taken into
account when measuring the realization of the right to education. These should include, for example, the
existence and the success of school health programmes, the availability and
affordability of educational materials, teachers' conditions of service, the
quality of curricula, the access of minorities to education consistent with
their human rights, the enrolment of disabled children, etc.
505. Ms. Tomasevski said that the Committee could
play a pioneering role in creating human rights indicators by formulating
questions that would generate data that did not currently exist. One such area was the freedom of choice
within national education systems.
Another related to data on children who should be at school but were
excluded, often as a result of the application of internationally prohibited
grounds of discrimination: girl
children, minority and indigenous children and children of asylum seekers. Available enrolment data also failed to
capture children over the age of 11, whose right to primary education, provided
for under the Covenant, clearly should extend beyond that age.
VIII. Financial aspects
506. Most of the participants reaffirmed that the
State had a primary responsibility to provide for free and compulsory primary
education and that no compromise to this principle was acceptable. The State, however, could decide to comply
with its obligations in partnership with other institutions.
507. As regards higher levels of education, members
of the Committee emphasized that the basic standard was the one of progressive
introduction of free education, as provided for in article 13 of the
Covenant. This would imply that any
step back taken by a State, for example by substantially increasing tuition
fees or by introducing fees in public schooling institutions so far free of charge,
would constitute a violation of the Covenant.
508. Ms. Tomasevski stressed the need to design a
human rights strategy adapted to the process of resource allocation at the
macro level, suitable for influencing investment in education as well as distribution
within the education sector. In that
regard, the combination of liberalization, privatization and globalization
which characterized the economic policy of the 1990s had prevented the
emergence of sustained political pressure in favour of investment in primary
education, mainly because it was a model that aimed at achieving sustained
economic growth without relying on human resources. Furthermore, resource allocation was a political process, an
exercise of political rights from which primary schoolchildren and their
parents were excluded. In contrast to
primary schoolchildren, who exercised no political rights, students and
lecturers in higher education were concentrated in capitals and main cities and
constituted an articulate militant political constituency, which ensured that
their interests were given high priority.
The allocation of educational resources clearly reflected that
situation. Thus, there was scope for
the Committee to shift the debate on the
right to education
by focusing on the indivisibility of rights in the context of the interplay
between the economic and political rights of different groups.
509. Ms. Ogun‑Bassani said that according to
research conducted by UNICEF and the World Bank, it would cost approximately
US$ 70 billion to get the 130 million children deprived of education into
primary schools. In relative terms,
that was not a very large sum of money ‑ more or less the equivalent to
what European countries spent on ice cream in 10 years. The international community had the
collective responsibility to convey the message that such a goal was easily
attainable. At present, a maximum of 4
per cent of official development assistance was allocated to basic education. Perhaps, in the catch‑up phase, the
developed world might consider increasing that percentage.
510. Ms. Cassam suggested that the Committee,
because of its prestige and its independence, could play a specific role in
calling for increased resource mobilization, especially from the World Bank and
IMF, for countries facing acute difficulties such as the highly indebted
countries and those undergoing the strictest structural adjustment
measures. Some countries currently had
to allocate more resources for their debt service than for education and health
together. She deplored the fact that
resource allocation and financial decisions were sometimes motivated by
ideological choices which were opposed to the principle of universal, free and
compulsory education even at the primary level.
511. Mr. Hunt noted that one of the biggest
challenges to the realization of economic, social and cultural rights today
related to the attitude of international financial institutions with regard to
the respect of international human rights obligations. Two dimensions of accountability should be
taken into consideration in this respect:
that of State parties, as far as their participation in those
institutions was concerned, and that of the institutions themselves.
512. There was a consensus that the new design for
primary education as a private investment proposed by Mr. Kent in his
background paper (E/C.12/1998/13) could be detrimental to the rights protected
under the Covenant and should only be seen as an additional means of financing
education, beyond the threshold of free primary education to be provided by the
State. Mr. Texier commented that
education could not and should not be treated as a commodity. Furthermore, Mr. Kent's proposal was
based on the assumption that State education was necessarily of poor quality whereas
experience had so far attested to the good quality of education in most
countries.
IX. Conclusion
513. Concluding the discussion, Mr. Alston stressed
the two main recommendations addressed to the Committee by participants: first, the need to explore ways and means to
reinforce cooperation with all interested
partners,
especially the United Nations organs, specialized agencies and treaty
bodies, with a view to avoiding overlap and to promote cross‑fertilization;
second, the need to develop concrete proposals to use article 14 of the
Covenant as a basis to translate such cooperation into practice.
514. The Chairperson also pointed out that the
discussion had provided an opportunity to shed light on a number of aspects of
the right to education, specially as far as it related to the principle of the
indivisibility of human rights.
Chapter VI
REVIEW OF METHODS OF WORK OF THE COMMITTEE
A. Decisions
adopted by the Committee at its eighteenth session
Globalization and its impact on the enjoyment of
economic, social and cultural rights
515. As a result
of the rich exchange that took place during the day of general discussion held
on 11 May 1998 (see chap. V above, paras. 436 to 461), the Committee adopted
the following statement.
“1. On the eve of
the fiftieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights it is
essential to reflect upon the impact of globalization on the economic, social
and cultural rights recognized in the Universal Declaration and further
developed in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights. Although it is capable of
multiple and diverse definitions, globalization is a phenomenon which has
wrought fundamental changes within every society.
“2. It is usually
defined primarily by reference to the developments in technology,
communications, information processing and so on that have made the world
smaller and more interdependent in very many ways. But it has also come to be closely associated with a variety of
specific trends and policies, including an increasing reliance upon the free
market, a significant growth in the influence of international financial
markets and institutions in determining the viability of national policy
priorities, a diminution in the role of the State and the size of its budget,
the privatization of various functions previously considered to be the
exclusive domain of the State, the deregulation of a range of activities with a
view to facilitating investment and rewarding individual initiative, and a
corresponding increase in the role and even responsibilities attributed to
private actors, both in the corporate sector, in particular to the
transnational corporations, and in civil society.
“3. None of these
developments in itself is necessarily incompatible with the principles of the
Covenant or with the obligations of Governments thereunder. Taken together, however, and if not
complemented by appropriate additional policies, globalization risks
downgrading the central place accorded to human rights by the Charter of the
United Nations in general and the International Bill of Human Rights in
particular. This is especially the case
in relation to economic, social and cultural rights. Thus, for example, respect for the right to work and the right to
just and favourable conditions of work is threatened where there is an
excessive emphasis upon competitiveness to the detriment of respect for the
labour rights contained in the Covenant.
The right to form and join trade unions may be threatened by
restrictions upon freedom of association, restrictions claimed to be
'necessary' in a global economy, or by the effective exclusion of possibilities
for collective bargaining or by the closing off of the right to strike for
various occupational and other groups.
The right of everyone to social security might not be ensured by
arrangements which rely entirely upon private contributions and private
schemes. Respect for the family and for
the rights of mothers and children in an era of expanded global labour markets
for certain individual occupations might require new and innovative policies
rather than a mere laissez_faire approach.
If not supplemented by necessary safeguards, the introduction of user
fees, or cost recovery policies, when applied to basic health and educational services
for the poor can easily result in significantly reduced access to services
which are essential for the enjoyment of the rights recognized in the
Covenant. An insistence upon higher and
higher levels of payment for access to artistic, cultural and heritage_related
activities risks undermining the right to participation in cultural life for a
significant proportion of any community.
“4. All of these
risks can be guarded against, or compensated for, if appropriate policies are
put in place. The Committee is
concerned, however, that while much energy and many resources have been
expended by Governments on promoting the trends and policies that are
associated with globalization, insufficient efforts are being made to devise
new or complementary approaches which could enhance the compatibility of those
trends and policies with full respect for economic, social and cultural
rights. Competitiveness, efficiency and
economic rationalism must not be permitted to become the primary or exclusive
criteria by which governmental and inter_governmental policies are evaluated.
“5. In calling
for a renewed commitment to respect economic, social and cultural rights, the
Committee wishes to emphasize that international organizations, as well as the
Governments that have created and manage them, have a strong and continuous
responsibility to take whatever measures they can to assist Governments to act
in ways which are compatible with their human rights obligations and to seek to
devise policies and programmes which promote respect for those rights. It is particularly important to emphasize
that the realms of trade, finance and investment are in no way exempt from
these general principles and that the international organizations with specific
responsibilities in those areas should play a positive and constructive role in
relation to human rights.
“6. Thus, for
example, the Committee welcomes the increasing importance being accorded to
human rights in the activities of the United Nations Development Programme and
hopes that appropriate emphasis will be accorded to economic, social and
cultural rights. It also welcomes the
initiatives taken by the Secretary_General of the United Nations Conference on
Trade and Development to explore more fully the linkages between the principal
concerns of the organization and respect for the full range of human rights.
“7. The Committee
calls upon the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank to pay enhanced
attention in their activities to respect for economic, social and cultural
rights, including through encouraging explicit recognition of these rights,
assisting in the identification of country_specific benchmarks to facilitate
their promotion, and facilitating the development of appropriate remedies for
responding to violations. Social safety
nets should be established by reference to these rights and enhanced attention
should be accorded to such methods of protecting the poor and vulnerable in the
context of structural adjustment programmes.
Effective social monitoring should be an integral part of the enhanced
financial surveillance and monitoring policies accompanying loans and credits
for adjustment purposes. Similarly the
World Trade Organization should devise appropriate methods to facilitate more
systematic consideration of the impact upon human rights of particular trade
and investment policies. In that regard
the Committee urges the Secretary_General to undertake, if possible in
collaboration with WTO, a careful study of the potential impact upon respect
for economic, social and cultural rights of the draft multilateral agreement on
investment being negotiated within OECD.
“8. Finally, the
Committee emphasizes the need for the Office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights to develop an enhanced capacity to monitor and
analyse trends in relation to these issues.
Regular briefings should be provided to the Committee to enable it to
take full account of relevant policies and trends in carrying out its
responsibility for monitoring State parties' compliance with their obligations
contained in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights.”
The incorporation of
economic, social and cultural rights into the
United Nations Development Assistance Framework
process:
comments adopted by the Committee on Economic, Social
and Cultural Rights
516. The
Committee, after considering the draft comments on taking economic, social and
cultural rights into account in the United Nations Development Assistance
Framework (UNDAF) process, adopted at its 28th meeting on 15 May 1998
the following comments.
“A. Human
rights and development
“1. The Committee
considers that development activities which do not contribute to respect for
human rights, either directly or indirectly, are not worthy of the name. It therefore welcomes the commitment of the
Secretary_General to ensure that human rights, including economic, social and
cultural rights, are part of the mainstream of all United Nations
activities.
“2. Similarly the
Committee welcomes the statement by the United Nations High Commissioner
for Human Rights to the Round_table on Human Rights and Extreme Poverty, in
Geneva on 24 March 1998, in which she suggested that decisions as to
appropriate priorities in the quest for development can be made easier by using
the language and standards of human rights and placing the decision_making
process firmly in the context of the Government's international human rights
obligations. These obligations stretch
also to international organizations.
“B. United
Nations reform and the UNDAF process
“3. One of the
most important manifestations of this new approach has been the establishment
of the United Nations Development Group’s Ad Hoc Working Group
on the Right to Development to develop a common approach for enhancing the
human rights dimension in development operations in the process of elaborating
a United Nations Development Assistance Framework to apply in relation to
the country-level activities of the United Nations, including in the work
of UNDP, UNICEF and UNFPA. This process
was initiated by the Secretary_General with a view to achieving 'goal_oriented
collaboration, programmatic coherence and mutual reinforcement' 10/ and has been endorsed by the General Assembly.
“4. One of the
major steps has been the development of a set of Provisional Guidelines for the
process. These are currently being
tested in relation to 18 countries which agreed to participate in a pilot
phase. It is expected that in due
course the Guidelines will be refined in the light of experience gained in this
phase and will be adopted and applied generally.
“C. The
place of economic, social and cultural rights
in the
process
“5. The Committee
welcomes these steps but it notes with surprise that the Provisional Guidelines
contain no explicit reference to the International Covenant on Economic, Social
and Cultural Rights, although mention is made, appropriately, of the Convention
on the Rights of the Child. The
principal reference document that appears to be used in relation to human
rights is the Declaration on the Right to Development. This Declaration is of major importance but
it was not designed to be operational in a context such as this. Its great strength lies more in stating
broad principles than in identifying specific measures to be taken at the
country level. The Declaration rightly
emphasizes the hitherto long_neglected international dimensions of human rights
promotion. When addressing individual
rights concerns and the matters that are of operational significance in the
development process at the national level, the Declaration correctly relies
upon the existing categories of rights, particularly those contained in the
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Thus the UNDAF process should proceed on the basis of the broad
principles contained in the Declaration and add to those the operational
dimension to be found in the core human rights treaties.
“6. The Committee
therefore urges the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the
other participants in the UNDAF process to pay particular and explicit
attention to economic, social and cultural rights in general, and the framework
of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in
particular, in the future elaboration of the Guidelines. In this regard, attention could be given to
the incorporation of these rights in the statement of objectives to be sought and
the specific policy issues to be addressed.
This would involve the elaboration of benchmarks for the realization of
these rights and the development of specific programmes to achieve these goals
in line with the human rights obligations of the States concerned. In relation to States which are parties to
the Covenant, account should also be taken of any relevant concluding
observations adopted by the Committee.
In this regard, the Committee will henceforth include a paragraph in its
concluding observations in relation to countries in which the UNDAF process is
being applied that the United Nations partners should take full account of
the concluding observations in their activities.
“7. In concrete
terms therefore the Committee recommends that the UNDAF Guidelines be
revised to:
“(a) Make specific reference to the International
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights as part of the essential
framework;
“(b) Require States to establish specific
benchmarks against which they
propose to measure their own performance in promoting realization of economic, social and cultural rights and
particularly in relation to those issues which are at the heart of the UNDAF
process such as non_discrimination
and the rights to adequate food, adequate housing,
health care, and primary and secondary education;
“(c) Provide that the concluding observations of
the six human rights treaty bodies be treated as essential reference documents
in the drawing up of country_specific UNDAF strategies.”
Day of general discussion
517. The
Committee decided to devote the day of general discussion during its nineteenth
session to the right to education (arts. 13 and 14 of the Covenant), and to aim
particularly to include this discussion within the framework of the mandate of
the Special Rapporteur on the right to education recently named by the
Commission on Human Rights. The Committee invites the Special Rapporteur to
participate in the day of general discussion on the right to education,
scheduled for 30 November 1998.
B. Decisions
adopted by the Committee at its nineteenth session
Fiftieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration on
Human Rights:
joint statement adopted by the Committee on Economic,
Social and Cultural Rights,
the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and the Human Rights Committee*
“1. The principle
of the indivisibility of all human rights is a fundamental underpinning of the
international consensus on human rights.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights establishes the canon of
rights and freedoms to which all human beings are entitled. These rights, and their indivisibility, have
been reiterated in international human rights instruments, including the
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The World Conference on Human Rights held in 1993 underscored the
interdependence of all human rights, and emphasized that all societies should
work to ensure the enjoyment by all their members of their civil, political,
economic, social and cultural rights, including their right to development.
“2. The principle
of the equal rights of women and men is one of the pillars of the
United Nations. Reflected in the
Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
and all subsequent major international human rights instruments, this principle
is elaborated in the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women. The
Convention codifies women's right to non_discrimination and equality with men
and also establishes that women and men are equally entitled to the full
enjoyment and exercise of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the
political, economic, social, cultural, civil or any other field. In so doing it reflects the principle of
indivisibility of rights.
“3. The
two Covenants are premised on the entitlement of all human beings, without
distinction based on sex, to the rights in these instruments. They also oblige States parties to ensure
the equal entitlement of women and men to the enjoyment of these rights.
“4. The 1990s
have been characterized by a growing understanding of the interdependence
between human rights and fundamental freedoms, sustainable development, and
democracy. This decade has also
witnessed renewed emphasis on women's entitlement to assert and exercise their
human rights. The achievement of
equality is no longer seen solely, or primarily, as the responsibility of
women, but is increasingly recognized as a societal responsibility and a legal
obligation assumed by States parties to international human rights instruments.
“5. The
centrality of gender equality in the full enjoyment of human rights is
reshaping the way in which the scope and content of human rights, and the
resulting obligations for implementation, are understood.
“6. The Human
Rights Committee, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and
the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women recognize
their critical role in increasing the understanding of gender factors in the
enjoyment of human rights. They are
conscious of the need to interpret creatively the human rights norms they
monitor so that they can be applied to those experiences of women which differ
from those of men. The Committees
underline that a broader, inclusive understanding of such rights brings with it
an international legal obligation for States parties to ensure to women the
full enjoyment of all their human rights.
“7. The Committee
on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women provides leadership, within
the United Nations human rights treaty bodies, in the elaboration of a
human rights concept that takes gender into account. The Human Rights Committee and the Committee on Economic, Social
and Cultural Rights increasingly consider the impact of gender on the enjoyment
of rights protected under the two Covenants, in the consideration of the
reports of States parties, in concluding comments and general comments and
recommendations.
“8. Unfortunately,
the principles of the indivisibility of all human rights and the equality of
all rights of men and women are still far from being reality: civil and political rights are too often
given precedence over economic, social and cultural rights and real equality between
men and women exists in no country.
“9. On the
occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights, the Human Rights Committee, the Committee on Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights and the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against
Women reaffirm their individual and joint responsibility to contribute to the
enjoyment of all human rights by all members of society, as foreseen in the
Declaration upon which they are based.
To that end, they pledge to increase their efforts to assess factors and
obstacles that impinge on women's enjoyment of their civil, political,
economic, social, cultural and other rights and to suggest specific actions on
how such obstacles might be overcome so that full enjoyment of human rights by
all, without discrimination, may be realized.”
Day of general discussion
518. In
accordance with the decision taken at its eighteenth session, the Committee
held its day of general discussion on the right to education as enshrined in
articles 13 and 14 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights on 30 November 1998 (see chap. V above, paras. 462 to
514). Particular effort was made to
relate the discussion to the work of the Special Rapporteur of the Commission
on Human Rights, who participated in the discussion.
519. At its
twentieth session, the Committee will devote its day of general discussion to
the consideration of the draft general comments on the right to education:
“Plan of action for primary education” (art. 14 of the Covenant) and “Right to
education” (art. 13 of the Covenant).
Follow-up to the day of general discussion
on the right to education
520. The
Committee devoted its day of general discussion at its nineteenth session to
the right to education (arts. 13 and 14 of the Covenant). For the first time in the history of the
human rights treaty-body system, participants included a Special Rapporteur of
the Commission on Human Rights,
Ms. Katarina Tomasevski, and a member of the
Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities,
Mr. Mustapha Mehedi, in addition to representatives of UNDP, UNESCO, UNICEF,
non-governmental organizations and independent experts.
521. Among the
issues raised during the discussion were, first, the use of indicators and
benchmarks as a means of measuring the progress of States parties in relation
to the right to education and, secondly, the need for closer cooperation
between United Nations bodies concerned with the realization of the right to
education.
522. Accordingly,
given the importance of these issues, the Committee requests the Office of the
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to consider the possibility
of organizing a workshop to identify key benchmarks and indicators in relation
to the right to education which might be utilized by the Committee, as well as
other United Nations treaty bodies and human rights organs, specialized
agencies and programmes. The workshop
participants should include representatives of this Committee, the Committee on
the Rights of the Child, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination
against Women, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the
Human Rights Committee, the Commission on Human Rights and the Sub-Commission
on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, UNDP, UNESCO,
UNICEF, and the World Bank.
523. The
Committee considered that such a workshop might in fact be the first of a
series of meetings designed to identify key benchmarks and indicators in
relation to each of the rights of the Covenant.
Plan of Action to strengthen the implementation of the
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (work
plan of the expert assistance
staff member as adopted by the Committee at its nineteenth session)
524. The
Committee has set out a number of considerations which underlie the
responsibilities of the expert assistance staff member.
525. First, it
must be borne in mind that the scope of the work should primarily encompass
technical and substantive assistance to the Committee.
526. Secondly,
it is emphasized that the position has been called for in the Plan of Action as
an addition to the existing support provided to the Committee by the
Secretariat. Filling the position
should not lead to a decrease of the support presently furnished, which, inter
alia, would lead to an increased workload for the Secretary of the
Committee.
527. Thirdly,
the Committee is of the opinion that adequate material requirements are to be
met, with a view to facilitating the incumbent’s work.
528. Fourthly,
the incumbent is to report to the Committee at each session on the tasks
undertaken and the results thereof.
529. Finally, in
the Committee’s view, it must be taken into account that the level of expertise
provided by the incumbent is reflected in the Professional level afforded to
the position, in order to ensure the fulfilment of the incumbent’s substantive
tasks. The main objectives are to
provide expert support and advice to the Committee’s work by establishing
foundations for the long-term improvement of the Covenant’s monitoring
system. To serve these objectives, the
following tasks have been envisaged:
(a) Information:
- collection,
analysis and synthesis of information regarding both reporting
States parties and non-reporting States
parties;
- collection,
analysis and synthesis of information from other sources, in particular from national and
international NGOs;
- timely,
systematic and orderly provision of information to the members of the Committee, and notably to the
country rapporteurs,
before, between and during sessions;
(b) Consideration
of reports:
- analysis of
a limited number of country reports from States parties for the purpose of consideration by the
Committee;
- analysis of
the situation of at least one non-reporting State
party for each session of the Committee, on the basis of the information from all available sources;
(c) Follow-up:
- follow-up
and monitoring of government measures taken on the basis of Committee recommendations and suggestions formulated
in its concluding observations;
- monitoring
and analysis of the extent of progress made by States
parties over time;
(d) Other
substantive responsibilities:
- Preparation
of substantive papers for the consideration of the
Committee, such as (draft) general comments and papers for the purpose of the days of general
discussion.
Chapter VII
ADOPTION
OF THE REPORT
530. At its 57th meeting on 4 December 1998, the
Committee considered its draft report to the Economic and Social Council on the
work of its eighteenth and nineteenth sessions (E/C.12/1998/CRP.1 and Add.1-3,
and E/C.12/1998/CRP.2 and Add.1). The
Committee adopted the report as amended in the course of the discussion.
Notes
|
ANNEXES Annex I STATES PARTIES TO THE COVENANT AND STATUS OF
SUBMISSION OF REPORTS (as at 31 December 1998) |
|||||||
|
State party |
Date of entry into force |
INITIAL
REPORTS |
SECOND PERIODIC REPORTS |
||||
|
Articles 6‑9 |
Articles 10‑12 |
Articles 13‑15 |
Articles 6‑9 |
Articles 10‑12 |
|
||
|
(Summary records of consideration of reports) |
|||||||
|
1. Afghanistan |
24
April 1983 |
E/1990/5/Add.8
(E/C.12/1991/SR.2, 4-6 and 8) |
Overdue |
||||
|
|
4
January 1992 |
Overdue |
|
|
|
||
|
|
12
December 1989 |
E/1990/5/Add.22
(E/C.12/1995/SR.46-48) |
Overdue |
||||
|
|
10
April 1992 |
Overdue |
|
|
|
||
|
5. Argentina |
8
November 1986 |
E/1990/5/Add.18 |
E/1988/5/Add.4 E/1988/5/Add.8 (E/C.12/1990/ SR.18-20) |
E/1990/6/Add.16 (Pending consideration) |
|||
|
|
13
December 1993 |
E/1990/5/Add.36 (Pending consideration) |
|
||||
|
7. Australia* |
10
March 1976 |
E/1978/8/Add.15 (E/1980/WG.1/ |
E/1980/6/Add.22 (E/1981/WG.1/
SR.18) |
E/1982/3/Add.9
(E/1982/WG.1/ SR.13
and 14) |
E/1984/7/Add.22
(E/1985/WG.1/ SR.17,
18 and 21) |
E/1986/4/Add.7
(E/1986/WG.1/ SR.10,
11, 13 and
14) |
SR.13,
15 and 20) |
|
|
10
December 1978 |
E/1984/6/Add.17 (E/C.12/1988/ SR.3
and 4) |
E/1980/6/Add.19 (E/1981/WG.1/ SR.8) |
E/1982/3/Add.37 (E/C.12/1988/ SR.3) |
E/1990/6/Add.5
(E/C.12/1994/ |
E/1986/4/Add.8 and
Corr.1 (E/1986/WG.1/ SR.4
and 7) |
E/1990/6/Add.5
(E/C.12/1994/ SR.39-41) |
|
|
13
November 1992 |
E/1990/5/Add.30 (E/C.12/1997/SR.39-41) |
|
||||
|
10. Barbados |
3
January 1976 |
E/1978/8/Add.33 (E/1982/WG.1/ SR.3) |
E/1980/6/Add.27 (E/1982/WG.1/ SR.6
and 7) |
E/1982/3/Add.24 (E/1983/WG.1/ SR.14
and 15) |
Overdue |
||
|
11. Belarus* |
3
January 1976 |
E/1978/8/Add.19 (E/1980/WG.1/ SR.16) |
(E/1981/WG.1/ SR.16) |
E/1982/3/Add.3 (E/1982/WG.1/ SR.9
and 10) |
E/1984/7/Add.8 (E/1984/WG.1/ SR.13-15) |
E/1986/4/Add.19 (E/C.12/1988/ SR.10-12) |
E/1990/7/Add.5 (E/C.12/1992/ SR.2,
3 and 12) |
|
|
21
July 1983 |
E/1990/5/Add.15 (E/C.12/1994/SR.15-17) |
E/1990/6/Add.8 (Pending consideration) |
||||
|
13. Benin |
12
June 1992 |
Overdue |
|
|
|
||
|
14. Bolivia |
12
November 1982 |
Overdue |
|
|
|
||
|
15. Bosnia and Herzegovina |
6
March 1993 |
Overdue |
|
||||
|
16. Brazil |
24
April 1992 |
Overdue |
|
||||
|
17. Bulgaria* |
3
January 1976 |
E/1978/8/Add.24 (E/1980/WG.1/ SR.12) |
E/1980/6/Add.29 (E/1982/WG.1/ SR.8) |
E/1982/3/Add.23 (E/1983/WG.1/ SR.11-13) |
E/1984/7/Add.18 (E/1985/WG.1/ |
E/1986/4/Add.20 (E/C.12/1988/ SR.17-19) |
|
|
18. Burundi |
9
August 1990 |
Overdue |
|
||||
|
19. Cambodia |
26
August 1992 |
Overdue |
|
||||
|
|
27
September 1984 |
E/1990/5/Add.35 (Pending consideration) |
E/1986/3/Add.8 (E/C.12/1989/ SR.6
and 7) |
E/1990/5/Add.35 (Pending consideration) |
|
||
|
21. Canada* |
19
August 1976 |
E/1978/8/Add.32 (E/1982/WG.1/ SR.1
and 2) |
(E/1984/WG.1/ SR.4
and 6) |
E/1982/3/Add.34 (E/1986/WG.1/ SR.13,
15 and 16) |
E/1984/7/Add.28 (E/C.12/1989/ SR.8
and 11) |
E/1990/6/Add.3 (E/C.12/1993/SR.6, 7 and 18) |
|
|
22. Cape Verde |
6
November 1993 |
Overdue |
|
|
|
||
|
|
8
August 1981 |
Overdue |
|
|
|
||
|
24. Chad |
9
September 1995 |
Overdue |
|
||||
|
|
3
January 1976 |
E/1978/8/Add.10
and 28 (E/1980/WG.1/ SR.8
and 9) |
E/1980/6/Add.4 (E/1981/WG.1/ SR.7) |
E/1982/3/Add.40 (E/C.12/1988/ SR.12,
13 and 16) |
E/1984/7/Add.1 (E/1984/WG.1/ SR.11
and 12) |
E/1986/4/Add.18 (E/C.12/1988/ SR.12,13
and 16) |
Overdue |
|
|
3
January 1976 |
E/1978/8/Add.17 (E/1980/WG.1/ SR.15) |
E/1986/3/Add.3 (E/1986/WG.1/ SR.6
and 9) |
E/1982/3/Add.36 (E/1986/WG.1/ SR.15,
21 and 22) |
E/1984/7/Add.21/ Rev.1 (E/1986/WG.1/ SR.22
and 25) |
E/1986/4/Add.25 (E/C.12/1990/ SR.12-14
and 17) |
E/1990/7/Add.4 (E/C.12/1991/ SR.17,
18 and 25) |
|
|
5
January 1984 |
Overdue |
|
|
|
||
|
28. Costa Rica |
3
January 1976 |
E/1990/5/Add.3 (E/C.12/1990/SR.38, 40, 41 and 43) |
Overdue |
||||
|
29. Côte d'Ivoire |
26
June 1992 |
|
|
||||
|
30. Croatia |
8
October 1991 |
Overdue |
|
||||
|
|
3
January 1976 |
E/1978/8/Add.21 (E/1980/WG.1/ SR.17) |
E/1980/6/Add.3 (E/1981/WG.1/ SR.6) |
E/1982/3/Add.19 (E/1983/WG.1/ SR.7
and 8) |
E/1984/7/Add.13 (E/1984/WG.1/ SR.18
and 22) |
E/1986/4/Add.2 and 26 (E/C.12/1990/ SR.2,
3 and 5) |
|
|
|
1
January 1993 |
Overdue |
|
||||
|
|
14
December 1981 |
E/1984/6/Add.7 (E/C.12/1987/ SR.21
and 22) |
E/1986/3/Add.5 (E/C.12/1987/ SR.21
and 22) |
E/1988/5/Add.6 (E/C.12/1991/ SR.6,
8 and 10) |
Overdue |
||
|
34. Democratic Republic of the Congo |
|
E/1984/6/Add.18 |
E/1986/3/Add.7 |
E/1982/3/Add.41 |
Overdue |
||
|
(E/C.12/1988/SR.16-19) |
|||||||
|
|
3
January 1976 |
E/1978/8/Add.13 (E/1980/WG.1/ SR.10) |
E/1980/6/Add.15 (E/1981/WG.1/ SR.12) |
E/1982/3/Add.20 (E/1983/WG.1/ SR.8
and 9) |
E/1984/7/Add.11 (E/1984/WG.1/ SR.17
and 21) |
E/1986/4/Add.16 (E/C.12/1988/ SR.8
and 9) |
|
|
|
17
September 1993 |
Overdue |
|
||||
|
|
4
April 1978 |
E/1990/5/Add.4 (E/C.12/1990/SR.43-45 and 47) |
E/1990/6/Add.7 (E/C.12/1996/SR.29 and
30 and E/C.12/1997/SR.29-31) |
||||
|
|
3
January 1976 |
E/1978/8/Add.1 (E/1980/WG.1/ SR.4
and 5) |
E/1986/3/Add.14 |
E/1988/5/Add.7
|
E/1984/7/Add.12 (E/1984/WG.1/ SR.20
and 22) |
Overdue |
|
|
(E/C.12/1990/SR.37-39 and 42) |
|||||||
|
|
14
April 1982 |
E/1990/5/Add.38 (Pending consideration) |
|
||||
|
40. El Salvador |
29
February 1980 |
E/1990/5/Add.25 (E/C.12/1996/SR.15, 16 and 18) |
Overdue |
||||
|
41. Equatorial Guinea |
25
December 1987 |
Overdue |
|
||||
|
|
21
January 1992 |
Overdue |
|
||||
|
43. Ethiopia |
11
September 1993 |
Overdue |
|
||||
|
44. Finland* |
3
January 1976 |
E/1978/8/Add.14 (E/1980/WG.1/ |
E/1980/6/Add.11 (E/1981/WG.1/ SR.10) |
E/1982/3/Add.28 (E/1984/WG.1/ SR.7
and 8) |
E/1984/7/Add.14 (E/1984/WG.1/ SR.17
and 18) |
E/1986/4/Add.4 (E/1986/WG.1/ SR.8,
9 and 11) |
E/1990/7/Add.1 (E/C.12/1991/ SR.11,
12 and 16) |
|
|
4
February 1981 |
E/1984/6/Add.11 (E/1986/WG.1/ SR.18,
19 and 21) |
E/1986/3/Add.10 (E/C.12/1989/ SR.12
and 13) |
E/1982/3/Add.30 and Corr.1 (E/1985/WG.1/ SR.5
and 7) |
Overdue |
||
|
|
21
April 1983 |
Overdue |
|
||||
|
47. Gambia |
29
March 1979 |
Overdue |
|
||||
|
48. Georgia |
3
August 1994 |
E/1990/5/Add.37 (Pending consideration) |
|
||||
|
|
3
January 1976 |
E/1978/8/Add.8 and
Corr.1 (E/1980/WG.1/ SR.8) E/1978/8/Add.11 (E/1980/WG.1/ SR.10) |
E/1980/6/Add.6 (E/1981/WG.1/ SR.8) E/1980/6/Add.10 (E/1981/WG.1/ |
E/1982/3/Add.15 and
Corr.1 (E/1983/WG.1/ SR.5
and 6) E/1982/3/Add.14 (E/1982/WG.1/ SR.17
and 18) |
E/1984/7/Add.3
and 23 (E/1985/WG.1/ SR.12
and 16) E/1984/7/Add.24 and
Corr.1 (E/1986/WG.1/ SR.22,
23 and 25) |
E/1986/4/Add.11 (E/C.12/1987/ SR.11,
12 and 14) E/1986/4/Add.10 (E/C.12/1987/ SR.19
and 20) |
E/1990/7/Add.12 (E/C.12/1993/ SR.35,
36 and 46) |
|
|
16
August 1985 |
Overdue |
|
||||
|
51. Grenada |
6
December 1991 |
Overdue |
|
||||
|
52. Guatemala |
19
August 1988 |
E/1990/5/Add.24 (E/C.12/1996/SR.11-14) |
Overdue |
||||
|
|
24
April 1978 |
Overdue |
|
||||
|
54. Guinea‑Bissau |
2
October 1992 |
Overdue |
|
||||
|
55. Guyana |
15 May
1977 |
E/1990/5/Add.27
(Pending consideration) |
E/1982/3/Add.5,
29 and 32 (E/1984/WG.1/ SR.20
and 22 and E/1985/WG.1/ SR.6) |
|
|||
|
|
17 May
1981 |
E/1990/5/Add.40[COMMENT1]
(Pending consideration) |
|
||||
|
|
3
January 1976 |
E/1978/8/Add.7 (E/1980/WG.1/ SR.7) |
E/1980/6/Add.37 (E/1986/WG.1/ SR.6,
7 and 9) |
E/1982/3/Add.10 (E/1982/WG.1/ SR.14) |
E/1984/7/Add.15 (E/1984/WG.1/ SR.19 and
21) |
E/1986/4/Add.1 (E/1986/WG.1/ SR.6,
7 and 9) |
E/1990/7/Add.10 (E/C.12/1992/ SR.9,
12 and 21) |
|
|
22
November 1979 |
|
E/1990/6/Add.15 (Pending consideration) |
||||
|
|
10
July 1979 |
E/1984/6/Add.13 (E/1986/WG.1/ SR.20
and 24) |
E/1980/6/Add.34 (E/1984/WG.1/ SR.6
and 8) |
E/1988/5/Add.5 (E/C.12/1990/ SR.16,
17 and 19) |
Overdue |
||
|
|
3
January 1976 |
E/1990/5/Add.9 |
E/1982/3/Add.43 (E/C.12/1990/ SR.42,
43 and 45) |
Overdue |
|||
|
|
3
January 1976 |
E/1984/6/Add.3
and 8 (E/1985/WG.1/ SR.8
and 11) |
E/1980/6/Add.14 (E/1981/WG.1/ SR.12) |
E/1982/3/Add.26 (E/1985/WG.1/ SR.3 and
4) |
|
E/1986/4/Add.3 (E/1986/WG.1/ SR.8
and 11) |
E/1990/7/Add.15 (E/C.12/1994/ SR.11
and 14) |
|
62. Ireland |
8
March 1990 |
E/1990/5/Add.34 (Pending consideration) |
|
||||
|
63. Israel |
3
January 1992 |
E/1990/5/Add.39 (E/C.12/1998/SR.31-33) |
|
||||
|
|
15
December 1978 |
E/1978/8/Add.34 (E/1982/WG.1/ SR.3
and 4) |
E/1980/6/Add.31 and 36 (E/1984/WG.1/ SR.3
and 5) |
|
E/1990/6/Add.2 (E/C.12/1992/SR.13, 14 and 21) |
||
|
65. Jamaica |
3 January
1976 |
E/1978/8/Add.27 (E/1980/WG.1/ SR.20) |
E/1986/3/Add.12 (E/C.12/1990/ SR.10-12
and 15) |
(E/C.12/1990/ SR.10-12
and 15) |
E/1984/7/Add.30 (E/C.12/1990/ SR.10-12
and 15) |
Overdue |
|
|
|
21
September 1979 |
E/1984/6/Add.6 and
Corr.1 (E/1984/WG.1/ SR.9
and 10) |
E/1986/3/Add.4 and
Corr.1 (E/1986/WG.1/ SR.20,
21 and 23) |
E/1982/3/Add.7 (E/1982/WG.1/ SR.12
and 13) |
E/1990/6/Add.21 (Pending consideration) |
||
|
67. Jordan |
3
January 1976 |
E/1984/6/Add.15 (E/C.12/1987/ SR.6-8) |
E/1986/3/Add.6 (E/C.12/1987/ SR.8) |
E/1982/3/Add.38/ Rev.1 (E/C.12/1990/ SR.30-32) |
E/1990/6/Add.17
(Pending consideration) |
||
|
|
3
January 1976 |
E/1990/5/Add.17 |
|
||||
|
69. Kuwait |
|
Overdue |
|
||||
|
70. Kyrgyzstan |
7
January 1995 |
E/1990/5/Add.42 (Pending consideration) |
|
||||
|
71. Latvia |
14
July 1992 |
Overdue |
|
||||
|
72. Lebanon |
3
January 1976 |
E/1990/5/Add.16 (E/C.12/1993/SR.14, 16 and 21) |
Overdue |
||||
|
73. Lesotho |
9
December 1992 |
Overdue |
|
||||
|
74. Libyan Arab Jamahiriya |
3
January 1976 |
E/1990/5/Add.26 (E/C.12/1997/SR.20 and 21) |
E/1982/3/Add.6
and 25 (E/1983/WG.1/ SR.16
and 17) |
Overdue |
|||
|
75. Lithuania |
20
February 1992 |
Overdue |
|
||||
|
76. Luxembourg |
18
November 1983 |
E/1990/5/Add.1 (E/C.12/1990/SR.33-36) |
E/1990/6/Add.9 (E/C.12/1997/SR.48 and 49) |
||||
|
77. Madagascar |
3
January 1976 |
E/1978/8/Add.29 (E/1981/WG.1/ SR.2) |
E/1980/6/Add.39 (E/1986/WG.1/ SR.2,
3 and 5) |
Overdue |
E/1984/7/Add.19 (E/1985/WG.1/ SR.14
and 18) |
Overdue |
Overdue |
|
78. Malawi |
22
March 1994 |
Overdue |
|
||||
|
|
3
January 1976 |
Overdue |
|
||||
|
80. Malta |
13
December 1990 |
Overdue |
|
||||
|
81. Mauritius |
3
January 1976 |
E/1990/5/Add.21 (E/C.12/1995/SR.40, 41 and 43) |
Overdue |
||||
|
82. Mexico* |
23
June 1981 |
E/1984/6/Add.2
and 10 (E/1986/WG.1/ SR.24,
26 and 28) |
E/1986/3/Add.13 (E/C.12/1990/ SR.6,
7 and 9) |
E/1982/3/Add.8 (E/1982/WG.1/ SR.14
and 15) |
E/1990/6/Add.4 (E/C.12/1993/SR.32-35 and 49) |
||
|
83. Monaco |
28
November 1997 |
Due on 30 June 1999 |
|
||||
|
84. Mongolia* |
3
January 1976 |
E/1978/8/Add.6 (E/1980/WG.1/ SR.7) |
E/1980/6/Add.7 (E/1981/WG.1/ SR.8
and 9) |
E/1982/3/Add.11 (E/1982/WG.1/ SR.15
and 16) |
E/1984/7/Add.6 (E/1984/WG.1/ SR.16
and 18) |
E/1986/4/Add.9 (E/C.12/1988/ SR.5
and 7) |
Overdue |
|
85. Morocco |
|
E/1990/5/Add.13 (E/C.12/1994/SR.8-10) |
E/1990/6/Add.20 |
||||
|
86. Namibia |
28
February 1995 |
Overdue |
|
||||
|
87. Nepal |
14
August 1991 |
Overdue |
|
||||
|
88. Netherlands** |
11
March 1979 |
E/1984/6/Add.14 and
20 (E/C.12/1987/ SR.5
and 6, and E/C.12/1989/ SR.14
and 15) |
E/1980/6/Add.33 (E/1984/WG.1/ SR.4-6
and 8) |
E/1982/3/Add.35 and
44 (E/1986/WG.1/ SR.14
and 18 and E/C.12/1989/ SR.14
and 15) |
E/1990/6/Add.11 -13 (E/C.12/1998/
SR.13-17) |
E/1986/4/Add.24 (E/C.12/1989/ SR.14
and 15) |
E/1990/6/Add.11-13
(E/C.12/1998/
SR.13-17) |
|
89. New Zealand |
28
March 1979 |
E/1990/5/Add.5, 11 and 12 (E/C.12/1993/SR.24-26 and 40) |
|
||||
|
90. Nicaragua |
12
June 1980 |
E/1984/6/Add.9 (E/1986/WG.1/ SR.16,
17 and 19) |
E/1986/3/Add.15 (E/C.12/1993/ SR.27,
28 and 46) |
E/1982/3/Add.31 and
Corr.1 (E/1985/WG.1/ SR.15) |
Overdue |
||
|
91. Niger |
7
June 1986 |
Overdue |
|
||||
|
|
29
October 1993 |
E/1990/5/Add.31 (E/C.12/1998/SR.6-8) |
|
||||
|
93. Norway* |
3
January 1976 |
E/1978/8/Add.12 (E/1980/WG.1/ SR.5) |
E/1980/6/Add.5 (E/1981/WG.1/ SR.14) |
E/1982/3/Add.12 (E/1982/WG.1/ SR.16) |
E/1984/7/Add.16 (E/1984/WG.1/ SR.19
and 22) |
E/1986/4/Add.21 (E/C.12/1988/ SR.14
and 15) |
E/1990/7/Add.7 (E/C.12/1992/ SR.4,
5 and 12) |
|
94. Panama |
8
June 1977 |
E/1984/6/Add.19 (E/C.12/1991/ SR.3,
5 and 8) |
E/1980/6/Add.20
and 23 (E/1982/WG.1/ SR.5) |
E/1988/5/Add.9 (E/C.12/1991/ SR.3,
5 and 8) |
Overdue |
E/1986/4/Add.22 (E/C.12/1991/ SR.3,
5 and 8) |
Overdue |
|
95. Paraguay |
10
September 1992 |
E/1990/5/Add.23 (E/C.12/1996/SR.1, 2 and 4) |
|
||||
|
96. Peru |
28
July 1978 |
E/1984/6/Add.5 (E/1984/WG.1/ SR.11
and 18) |
E/1990/5/Add.29 (E/C.12/1997/ SR.14-17) |
Overdue |
|||
|
97. Philippines |
3
January 1976 |
E/1978/8/Add.4 (E/1980/WG.1/ SR.11) |
E/1986/3/Add.17 (E/C.12/1995/ SR.11,
12 and 14) |
E/1988/5/Add.2 (E/C.12/1990/ SR.8,
9 and 11) |
E/1984/7/Add.4 (E/1984/WG.1/ SR.15
and 20) |
Overdue |
|
|
98. Poland* |
18
June 1977 |
E/1978/8/Add.23 (E/1980/WG.1/ SR.18
and 19) |
E/1980/6/Add.12 (E/1981/WG.1/ SR.11) |
E/1982/3/Add.21 (E/1983/WG.1/ SR.9
and 10) |
E/1984/7/Add.26 and
27 (E/1986/WG.1/ SR.25-27) |
E/1986/4/Add.12 (E/C.12/1989/ SR.5
and 6) |
E/1990/7/Add.9 (E/C.12/1992/ SR.6,
7 and 15) |
|
99. Portugal* |
31
October 1978 |
|
E/1980/6/Add.35/ Rev.1 (E/1985/WG.1/ SR.2
and 4) |
E/1982/3/Add.27/ Rev.1 (E/1985/WG.1/ SR.6
and 9) |
E/1990/6/Add.6 (E/C.12/1995/SR.7, 8 and 10) E/1990/6/Add.8 (Macao) (E/C.12/1996/SR.31-33) |
||
|
100. Republic of Korea |
10
July 1990 |
E/1990/5/Add.19 (E/C.12/1995/SR.3, 4 and 6) |
Overdue |
||||
|
101. Republic of Moldova |
26
March 1993 |
Overdue |
|
||||
|
102. Romania*** |
3
January 1976 |
E/1978/8/Add.20 (E/1980/WG.1/ SR.16
and 17) |
E/1980/6/Add.1 (E/1981/WG.1/ SR.5) |
E/1982/3/Add.13 (E/1982/WG.1/ SR.17
and 18) |
E/1984/7/Add.17 (E/1985/WG.1/ SR.10
and 13) |
E/1986/4/Add.17 (E/C.12/1988/ SR.6) |
E/1990/7/Add.14 (E/C.12/1994/ SR.5,
7 and 13 |
|
103. Russian Federation* |
3
January 1976 |
E/1978/8/Add.16 (E/1980/WG.1/ SR.14) |
E/1980/6/Add.17 (E/1981/WG.1/ SR.14
and 15) |
E/1982/3/Add.1 (E/1982/WG.1/ SR.11
and 12) |
E/1984/7/Add.7 (E/1984/WG.1/ SR.9
and 10) |
E/1986/4/Add.14 (E/C.12/1987/ SR.16-18) |
E/1990/7/Add.8 (withdrawn) |
|
104. Rwanda |
3
January 1976 |
E/1984/6/Add.4 (E/1984/WG.1/ SR.10
and 12) |
E/1986/3/Add.1 (E/1986/WG.1/ SR.16
and 19) |
E/1982/3/Add.42 (E/C.12/1989/ SR.10-12) |
E/1984/7/Add.29 (E/C.12/1989/ SR.10-12) |
Overdue |
Overdue |
|
105. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines |
9
February 1982 |
Overdue |
|
||||
|
106. San Marino |
18
January 1986 |
Overdue |
|
||||
|
107. Senegal |
13
May 1978 |
E/1984/6/Add.22 (E/C.12/1993/ SR.37,
38 and 49) |
E/1980/6/Add.13/ Rev.1 (E/1981/WG.1/ SR.11) |
E/1982/3/Add.17 (E/1983/WG.1/ SR.14-16) |
Overdue |
||
|
108. Seychelles |
5
August 1992 |
Overdue |
|
||||
|
109. Sierra Leone |
23
November 1996 |
Overdue |
|
||||
|
110. Slovakia |
28
May 1993 |
Overdue |
|
||||
|
111. Slovenia |
6
July 1992 |
Overdue |
|
||||
|
112. Solomon Islands |
17
March 1982 |
Overdue |
|
||||
|
113. Somalia |
24
April 1990 |
Overdue |
|
||||
|
114. Spain* |
27
July 1977 |
E/1978/8/Add.26 (E/1980/WG.1/ SR.20) |
E/1980/6/Add.28 (E/1982/WG.1/ SR.7) |
E/1982/3/Add.22 (E/1983/WG.1/ SR.10
and 11) |
E/1984/7/Add.2 (E/1984/WG.1/ SR.12
and 14) |
E/1986/4/Add.6 (E/1986/WG.1/ SR.10
and 13) |
E/1990/7/Add.3 (E/C.12/1991/ SR.13,
14, 16 and
22) |
|
115. Sri Lanka |
11
September 1980 |
E/1990/5/Add.32 (E/C.12/1998/SR.3-5) |
|
||||
|
116. Sudan |
18
June 1986 |
E/1990/5/Add.41 (Pending consideration) |
|
||||
|
|
28
March 1977 |
E/1990/5/Add.20 (E/C.12/1995/SR.13, 15, 16) |
Overdue |
||||
|
118. Sweden* |
3
January 1976 |
E/1978/8/Add.5 (E/1980/WG.1/ SR.15) |
E/1980/6/Add.8 (E/1981/WG.1/ SR.9) |
E/1982/3/Add.2 (E/1982/WG.1/ SR.19
and 20) |
E/1984/7/Add.5 (E/1984/WG.1/ SR.14
and 16) |
E/1986/4/Add.13 (E/C.12/1988/ SR.10
and 11) |
E/1990/7/Add.2 (E/C.12/1991/ SR.11-13
and 18) |
|
119. Switzerland |
18
September 1992 |
E/1990/5/Add.33 (E/C.12/1998/SR.37-39) |
|
||||
|
120. Syrian Arab Republic*** |
3
January 1976 |
E/1978/8/Add.25 and
31 (E/1983/WG.1/ SR.2) |
E/1980/6/Add.9 (E/1981/WG.1/ SR.4) |
|
E/1990/6/Add.1 (E/C.12/1991/SR.7, 9 and 11) |
||
|
121. The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia |
17
September 1991 |
Overdue |
|
||||
|
122. Togo |
24
August 1984 |
Overdue |
|
||||
|
123. Trinidad and Tobago |
8
March 1979 |
E/1984/6/Add.21 |
E/1986/3/Add.11 |
E/1988/5/Add.1 |
Overdue |
||
|
(E/C.12/1989/SR.17-19) |
|||||||
|
124. Tunisia |
3
January 1976 |
E/1978/8/Add.3 (E/1980/WG.1/ SR.5
and 6) |
E/1986/3/Add.9 (E/C.12/1989/ SR.9) |
|
E/1990/6/Add.14 (Pending consideration) |
||
|
125. Turkmenistan |
1
August 1997 |
Due on 30 June 1999 |
|
||||
|
126. Uganda |
21
April 1987 |
Overdue |
|
||||
|
127. Ukraine* |
3
January 1976 |
E/1978/8/Add.22 (E/1980/WG.1/ SR.18) |
E/1980/6/Add.24 (E/1982/WG.1/ SR.5
and 6) |
E/1982/3/Add.4 (E/1982/WG.1/ SR.11
and 12) |
E/1984/7/Add.9 (E/1984/WG.1/ SR.13-15) |
E/1986/4/Add.5 (E/C.12/1987/ SR.9-11) |
E/1990/7/Add.11 (withdrawn) |
|
128. United
Kingdom of Great Britain
and Northern Ireland* |
20
August 1976 |
E/1978/8/Add.9 and
30 (E/1980/WG.1/ SR.19
and E/1982/WG.1/ SR.1) |
E/1980/6/Add.16 and
Corr.1, Add.25 and Corr.1, and Add.26 (E/1981/WG.1/ SR.16
and 17) |
E/1982/3/Add.16 (E/1982/WG.1/ SR.19-21) |
E/1984/7/Add.20 (E/1985/WG.1/ SR.14
and 17) |
E/1986/4/Add.23 (E/C.12/1989/ SR.16
and 17) E/1986/4/Add.27
and 28 (E/C.12/1994/ SR.33,
34, 36 and 37) |
E/1990/7/Add.16 (E/C.12/1994/ SR.33,
34, 36 and
37) |
|
129. United Republic of Tanzania |
11
September 1976 |
Overdue |
E/1980/6/Add.2 (E/1981/WG.1/ SR.5) |
Overdue |
|
||
|
130. Uruguay |
3
January 1976 |
E/1990/5/Add.7 (E/C.12/1994/SR.3, 4, 6 and 13) |
E/1990/6/Add.10 (E/C.12/1997/SR.42-44) |
||||
|
131. Uzbekistan |
28
December 1995 |
Overdue |
|
||||
|
132. Venezuela |
10
August 1978 |
E/1984/6/Add.1 (E/1984/WG.1/ SR.7,
8 and 10) |
E/1980/6/Add.38 (E/1986/WG.1/ SR.2
and 5) |
E/1982/3/Add.33 (E/1986/WG.1/ SR.12,
17 and 18) |
E/1990/6/Add.19[COMMENT2]
(Pending consideration) |
||
|
133. Viet Nam |
24
December 1982 |
E/1990/5/Add.10 (E/C.12/1993/SR.9-11 and 19) |
Overdue |
||||
|
134. Yemen |
9
May 1987 |
Overdue |
|
||||
|
135. Yugoslavia |
3
January 1976 |
E/1978/8/Add.35 (E/1982/WG.1/ SR.4
and 5) |
E/1980/6/Add.30 (E/1983/WG.1/ SR.3) |
E/1982/3/Add.39 (E/C.12/1988/ SR.14
and 15) |
E/1984/7/Add.10 (E/1984/WG.1/ SR.16
and 18) |
E/1990/6/Add.22 (Pending consideration) |
|
|
136. Zambia |
10
July 1984 |
Overdue |
E/1986/3/Add.2 (E/1986/WG.1/ SR.4,
5 and 7) |
Overdue |
|
||
|
137. Zimbabwe |
13
August 1991 |
E/1990/5/Add.28 (E/C.12/1997/SR.8-10 and 14/Add.1) |
Overdue |
||||
Annex I (continued)
* The third periodic report of Sweden (E/1994/104/Add.1) was
considered at the twelfth session (E/C.12/1995/SR.13/Add.1, 15/Add.1 and 16);
the third periodic report of Colombia (E/1994/104/Add.2) was considered at
the thirteenth session (E/C.12/1995/SR.32, 33 and 35); the third periodic
report of Norway (E/1994/104/Add.3) was considered at the thirteenth session
(E/C.12/1995/SR.34, 36 and 37); the third periodic report of Ukraine
(E/1994/104/Add.4) was considered at the thirteenth session (E/C.12/1995/SR.42,
44 and 45); the third periodic report of Spain (E/1994/104/Add.5) was
considered at the fourteenth session (E/C.12/1996/SR.3, 5 to 7); the third
periodic report of Belarus (E/1994/104/Add.6) was considered at the fifteenth
session (E/C.12/1996/SR.34-36); the third periodic report of Finland
(E/1994/104/Add.7) was considered at the fifteenth session (E/C.12/1996/SR.37,
38 and 40); the third periodic report of the Russian Federation
(E/1994/104/Add.8) was considered at the sixteenth session (E/C.12/1997/SR.11-14);
the third periodic report of Iraq (E/1994/104/Add.9) was considered at the
seventeenth session (E/C.12/1997/SR.33-35); the third periodic report of
the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (Hong
Kong) [E/1994/104/Add.10] was considered at the fifteenth session
(E/C.12/1996/SR.39, 41, 42 and 44); the third periodic report of the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (E/1994/104/Add.11) was
considered at the seventeenth session (E/C.12/1997/SR.36-38);[COMMENT3] the third periodic report of Cyprus (E/1994/104/Add.12) was considered
at the nineteenth session (E/C.12/1998/SR.34-36)[COMMENT4];[COMMENT5] the third periodic report of Poland (E/1994/104/Add.13) was considered
at the eighteenth session (E/C.12/1998/SR.10-12)[COMMENT6]; the third periodic report of Germany (E/1994/104/Add.14) was
considered at the nineteenth session (E/C.12/1998/SR.40-42)[COMMENT7]; the third periodic report of Denmark was received
on 12 August 1996 (E/1994/104/Add.15); the third periodic report
of Bulgaria was received on 19 September 1996
(E/1994/104/Add.16)[COMMENT8]; the third periodic report of Canada (E/1994/104/Add.17) was considered
at the nineteenth session (E/C.12/1998/SR.46-48)[COMMENT9]; the third periodic report of Mexico was received on
18 July 1997 (E/1994/104/Add.18); the third periodic report of Italy
was received on 20 October 1997 (E/1994/104/Add.19); the third
periodic report of Portugal was received on 28 November 1997
(E/1994/104/Add.20)[COMMENT10]; the third periodic report of Mongolia was received on 20
April 1998 (E/1994/104/Add.21)[COMMENT11]; the third periodic report of Australia was received on 15 June 1998
(E/1994/104/Add.22)[COMMENT12].
**
The third periodic report, which was due on 30 June 1997,
has not yet been received.[COMMENT13]
***
The third periodic report, which was due on 30 June 1994,
has not yet been received.[COMMENT14]
Annex II
MEMBERSHIP OF THE COMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS
|
Name
of member |
Country
of nationality |
Term expires on 31 December |
|
Mr.
Ade ADEKUOYE |
Nigeria |
1998 |
|
Mr.
Mahmoud Samir AHMED |
Egypt |
1998 |
|
|
Australia |
1998 |
|
Mr.
Ivan ANTANOVICH |
Belarus |
2000 |
|
Ms.
Virginia BONOAN‑DANDAN |
Philippines |
1998 |
|
Mr.
Dumitru CEAUSU |
Romania |
2000 |
|
Mr.
Oscar CEVILLE |
Panama |
2000 |
|
Mr.
Abdessatar GRISSA |
Tunisia |
2000 |
|
Ms.
María de los Ángeles JIMÉNEZ BUTRAGUEÑO |
Spain |
2000 |
|
Mr.
Valeri KOUZNETSOV |
Russian
Federation |
1998 |
|
Mr.
Jaime MARCHÁN ROMERO |
Ecuador |
|
|
Mr.
Ariranga Govindasamy PILLAY |
Mauritius |
2000 |
|
Mr.
Kenneth Osborne RATTRAY |
Jamaica |
2000 |
|
Mr.
Eibe RIEDEL |
Germany |
1998 |
|
Mr.
Waleed M. SADI |
Jordan |
2000 |
|
Mr.
Philippe TEXIER |
France |
2000 |
|
Mr.
Nutan THAPALIA |
Nepal |
1998 |
|
Mr.
Javier WIMER ZAMBRANO |
Mexico |
1998 |
Annex III
A. AGENDA OF THE EIGHTEENTH SESSION OF THE COMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC,
SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS (27 April_15
May 1998)
1. Adoption of the agenda.
2. Organization of work.
3. Substantive issues arising in the implementation
of the International
Covenant
on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
4. Follow_up to the
consideration of reports under articles 16 and 17 of the Covenant.
5. Relations with United Nations organs and
other treaty bodies.
6. Consideration of reports:
(a) Reports submitted by States
parties in accordance with articles 16 and 17 of the Covenant;
(b) Reports submitted by
specialized agencies in accordance with article 18 of the Covenant.
7. General discussion: “Globalization and its impact on the
enjoyment of economic and social rights”.
8. Submission of reports by
States parties in accordance with articles 16 and 17 of the Covenant.
9. Formulation of suggestions
and recommendations of a general nature based on the consideration of reports
submitted by States parties to the Covenant and by the specialized agencies.
B. AGENDA OF THE NINETEENTH SESSION OF THE COMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC,
SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS (16 November_4
December 1998)
1. Adoption of the agenda.
2. Organization of work.
3. Substantive issues arising in
the implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights.
4. Follow_up to the
consideration of reports under articles 16 and 17 of the Covenant.
5. Relations with United Nations organs and
other treaty bodies.
6. Consideration of reports:
(a) Reports submitted by States
parties in accordance with articles 16 and 17 of the Covenant;
(b) Reports submitted by
specialized agencies in accordance with article 18 of the Covenant.
7. General discussion: “The
right to education (articles 13 and 14 of the Covenant)”.
8. Submission of reports by
States parties in accordance with articles 16 and 17 of the Covenant.
9. Formulation of suggestions
and recommendations of a general nature based on the consideration of reports
submitted by States parties to the Covenant and by the specialized agencies.
10. Report of the Committee to
the Economic and Social Council.
Annex IV
GENERAL COMMENT NO. 9 (1998)*
Domestic application of the Covenant
A. The duty to give effect to the Covenant
in the domestic
legal order
1. In its General Comment No. 3 (1990) on
the nature of States parties’ obligations (art. 2, para. 1, of the Covenant) a/
the Committee addressed issues relating to the nature and scope of States
parties' obligations. The present
General Comment seeks to elaborate further certain elements of the earlier
statement. The central obligation in
relation to the Covenant is for States parties to give effect to the rights
recognized therein. By requiring
Governments to do so “by all appropriate means”, the Covenant adopts a broad
and flexible approach which enables the particularities of the legal and
administrative systems of each State, as well as other relevant considerations,
to be taken into account.
2. But this flexibility coexists with the
obligation upon each State party to use all the means at its disposal to give
effect to the rights recognized in the Covenant. In this respect, the fundamental requirements of international
human rights law must be borne in mind.
Thus the Covenant norms must be recognized in appropriate ways within
the domestic legal order, appropriate means of redress, or remedies, must be
available to any aggrieved individual or group, and appropriate means of
ensuring governmental accountability must be put in place.
3. Questions relating to the domestic
application of the Covenant must be considered in the light of two principles
of international law. The first, as
reflected in article 27 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, b/
is that “[A] party may not invoke the provisions of its internal law as
justification for its failure to perform a treaty”. In other words, States should modify the domestic legal order as
necessary in order to give effect to their treaty obligations. The second principle is reflected in article
8 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, according to which “Everyone
has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for
acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the constitution or by
law.” The International Covenant on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights contains no direct counterpart to article
2, paragraph 3 (b), of the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights, which obligates States parties to, inter alia, “develop the
possibilities of judicial remedy”.
Nevertheless, a State party seeking to justify its failure to provide
any domestic legal remedies for violations of economic, social and cultural
rights would need to show either that such remedies are not “appropriate means”
within the terms of article 2, paragraph 1, of the International Covenant on
Economic, Cultural and Social Rights or that, in view of the other means used,
they are unnecessary. It will be
difficult to show this and the Committee considers that, in many cases, the
other means used could be rendered ineffective if they are not reinforced or
complemented by judicial remedies.
B. The status of the Covenant in the
domestic legal order
4. In general, legally binding international
human rights standards should operate directly and immediately within the
domestic legal system of each State party, thereby enabling individuals to seek
enforcement of their rights before national courts and tribunals. The rule requiring the exhaustion of
domestic remedies reinforces the primacy of national remedies in this respect. The existence and further development of
international procedures for the pursuit of individual claims is important, but
such procedures are ultimately only supplementary to effective national
remedies.
5. The Covenant does not stipulate the specific
means by which it is to be implemented in the national legal order. And there is no provision obligating its
comprehensive incorporation or requiring it to be accorded any specific type of
status in national law. Although the
precise method by which Covenant rights are given effect in national law is a matter
for each State party to decide, the means used should be appropriate in the
sense of producing results which are consistent with the full discharge of its
obligations by the State party. The
means chosen are also subject to review as part of the Committee’s examination
of the State party’s compliance with its obligations under the Covenant.
6. An analysis of State practice with respect
to the Covenant shows that States have used a variety of approaches. Some States have failed to do anything
specific at all. Of those that have
taken measures, some States have transformed the Covenant into domestic law by
supplementing or amending existing legislation, without invoking the specific
terms of the Covenant. Others have
adopted or incorporated it into domestic law, so that its terms are retained
intact and given formal validity in the national legal order. This has often been done by means of
constitutional provisions according priority to the provisions of international
human rights treaties over any inconsistent domestic laws. The approach of States to the Covenant
depends significantly upon the approach adopted to treaties in general in the
domestic legal order.
7. But whatever the preferred methodology, several
principles follow from the duty to give effect to the Covenant and must
therefore be respected. First, the
means of implementation chosen must be adequate to ensure fulfilment of the
obligations under the Covenant. The
need to ensure justiciability (see para. 10 below) is relevant when determining
the best way to give domestic legal effect to the Covenant rights. Second, account should be taken of the means
which have proved to be most effective in the country concerned in ensuring the
protection of other human rights. Where
the means used to give effect to the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights differ significantly from those used in relation to other human rights
treaties, there should be a compelling justification for this, taking account
of the fact that the formulations used in the Covenant are, to a considerable
extent, comparable to those used in treaties dealing with civil and political
rights.
8. Third, while the Covenant does not formally
oblige States to incorporate its provisions in domestic law, such an approach
is desirable. Direct incorporation
avoids problems that might arise in the translation of treaty obligations into
national law, and provides a basis for the direct invocation of the Covenant
rights by individuals in national courts.
For these reasons, the Committee strongly encourages formal adoption or
incorporation of the Covenant in national law.
C. The role of legal remedies
Legal
or judicial remedies?
9. The right to an effective remedy need not be
interpreted as always requiring a judicial remedy. Administrative remedies will, in many cases, be adequate and
those living within the jurisdiction of a State party have a legitimate
expectation, based on the principle of good faith, that all administrative
authorities will take account of the requirements of the Covenant in their
decision‑making. Any such
administrative remedies should be accessible, affordable, timely and
effective. An ultimate right of
judicial appeal from administrative procedures of this type would also often be
appropriate. By the same token, there
are some obligations, such as (but by no means limited to) those concerning non‑discrimination,
c/ in relation to which the provision of some form of judicial remedy would
seem indispensable in order to satisfy the requirements of the Covenant. In other words, whenever a Covenant right
cannot be made fully effective without some role for the judiciary, judicial
remedies are necessary.
Justiciability
10. In relation to civil and political rights, it
is generally taken for granted that judicial remedies for violations are
essential. Regrettably, the contrary
assumption is too often made in relation to economic, social and cultural
rights. This discrepancy is not warranted
either by the nature of the rights or by the relevant Covenant provisions. The Committee has already made clear that it
considers many of the provisions in the Covenant to be capable of immediate
implementation. Thus, in General
Comment No. 3 (1990) it cited, by way of example, articles 3; 7, paragraph
(a)(i); 8; 10, paragraph 3; 13, paragraph 2 (a); 13, paragraph 3; 13, paragraph
4; and 15, paragraph 3. It is
important in this regard to distinguish between justiciability (which refers to
those matters which are appropriately resolved by the courts) and norms which
are self‑executing (capable of being applied by courts without further
elaboration). While the general
approach of each legal system needs to be taken into account, there is no Covenant right which could not, in the
great majority of systems, be considered to possess at least some significant justiciable dimensions. It is sometimes suggested that matters involving the allocation of
resources should be left to the political authorities rather than the
courts. While the respective
competences of the various branches of government must be respected, it is
appropriate to acknowledge that courts are generally already involved in a
considerable range of matters which have important resource implications. The adoption of a rigid classification of
economic, social and cultural rights which puts them, by definition, beyond the
reach of the courts would thus be arbitrary and incompatible with the principle
that the two sets of human rights are indivisible and interdependent. It would also drastically curtail the
capacity of the courts to protect the rights of the most vulnerable and
disadvantaged groups in society.
Self_executing
11. The Covenant does not negate the possibility
that the rights it contains may be considered self‑executing in systems
where that option is provided for.
Indeed, when it was being drafted, attempts to include a specific
provision in the Covenant to the effect that it be considered “non‑self‑executing”
were strongly rejected. In most States,
the determination of whether or not a treaty provision is self‑executing
will be a matter for the courts, not the executive or the legislature. In order to perform that function
effectively, the relevant courts and tribunals must be made aware of the nature
and implications of the Covenant and of the important role of judicial remedies
in its implementation. Thus, for
example, when governments are involved in court proceedings, they should
promote interpretations of domestic laws which give effect to their Covenant
obligations. Similarly, judicial
training should take full account of the justiciability of the Covenant. It is especially important to avoid any a
priori assumption that the norms should be considered to be non‑self‑executing. In fact, many of them are stated in terms
which are at least as clear and specific as those in other human rights
treaties, the provisions of which are regularly deemed by courts to be self‑executing.
D. The treatment of the
Covenant in domestic courts
12. In the Committee’s guidelines
for States’ reports, States are requested to provide information as to whether
the provisions of the Covenant “can be invoked before, and directly enforced
by, the Courts, other tribunals or administrative authorities”. d/ Some States have provided such information,
but greater importance should be attached to this element in future
reports. In particular, the Committee
requests that States parties provide details of any significant jurisprudence
from their domestic courts that makes use of the provisions of the Covenant.
13. On the basis of available
information, it is clear that State practice is mixed. The Committee notes that some courts have
applied the provisions of the Covenant either directly or as interpretive
standards. Other courts are willing to
acknowledge, in principle, the relevance of the Covenant for interpreting
domestic law, but in practice, the impact of the Covenant on the reasoning or
outcome of cases is very limited.
Still other courts have refused to give any degree of legal effect to
the Covenant in cases in which individuals have sought to rely on it. There remains extensive scope for the courts
in most countries to place greater reliance upon the Covenant.
14. Within the limits of the
appropriate exercise of their functions of judicial review, courts should take
account of Covenant rights where this is necessary to ensure that the State's
conduct is consistent with its obligations under the Covenant. Neglect by the courts of this responsibility
is incompatible with the principle of the rule of law, which must always be
taken to include respect for international human rights obligations.
15. It is generally accepted that
domestic law should be interpreted as far as possible in a way which conforms
to a State's international legal obligations.
Thus, when a domestic decision maker is faced with a choice between an
interpretation of domestic law that would place the state in breach of the Covenant
and one that would enable the State to comply with the Covenant, international
law requires the choice of the latter.
Guarantees of equality and non‑discrimination should be
interpreted, to the greatest extent possible, in ways which facilitate the full
protection of economic, social and cultural rights.
Notes
a/ E/1991/23,
annex III.
b/ United
Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1155, page 331.
c/ Pursuant
to article 2, paragraph 2, of the Covenant, States “undertake to guarantee”
that the rights therein are exercised “without discrimination of any kind”.
d/ See
E/1991/23, annex IV, chapter A, paragraph 1 (d)(iv).
Annex
V
GENERAL COMMENT NO. 10 (1998)*
The role of national human rights institutions in the
protection of
economic, social and cultural rights
1. Article 2, paragraph 1,
of the Covenant obligates each State party “to take steps ... with a view
to achieving progressively the full realization of the [Covenant] rights ... by
all appropriate means”. The Committee
notes that one such means, through which important steps can be taken, is
the work of national institutions for the promotion and protection of human
rights. In recent years there has been
a proliferation of these institutions and the trend has been strongly
encouraged by the General Assembly and the Commission on Human
Rights. The Office of the United
Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has established a major programme to
assist and encourage States in relation to national institutions.
2. These institutions range from
national human rights commissions through Ombudsman offices, public interest or
other human rights “advocates”, to defensores del pueblo. In many cases, the institution has been
established by the Government, enjoys an important degree of autonomy from the
executive and the legislature, takes full account of international human rights
standards which are applicable to the country concerned, and is mandated to
perform various activities designed to promote and protect human rights. Such institutions have been established in
States with widely differing legal cultures and regardless of their economic
situation.
3. The Committee notes that
national institutions have a potentially crucial role to play in promoting and ensuring
the indivisibility and interdependence of all human rights. Unfortunately, this role has too often
either not been accorded to the institution or has been neglected or given a
low priority by it. It is therefore
essential that full attention be given to economic, social and cultural rights
in all of the relevant activities of these institutions. The following list is indicative of the
types of activities that can be, and in some instances already have been,
undertaken by national institutions in relation to these rights:
(a) The promotion of educational
and information programmes designed to enhance awareness and understanding of
economic, social and cultural rights, both within the population at large and
among particular groups such as the public service, the judiciary, the private
sector and the labour movement;
(b) The scrutinizing of existing
laws and administrative acts, as well as draft bills and other proposals, to
ensure that they are consistent with the requirements of the International
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights;
(c) Providing technical advice,
or undertaking surveys in relation to economic, social and cultural rights,
including at the request of the public authorities or other appropriate
agencies;
(d) The identification of
national_level benchmarks against which the realization of Covenant obligations
can be measured;
(e) Conducting research and
inquiries designed to ascertain the extent to which particular economic, social
and cultural rights are being realized, either within the State as a whole or
in areas or in relation to communities of particular vulnerability;
(f) Monitoring compliance with
specific rights recognized under the Covenant and providing reports thereon to
the public authorities and civil society; and
(g) Examining complaints alleging
infringements of applicable economic, social and cultural rights standards
within the State.
4. The Committee calls upon
States parties to ensure that the mandates accorded to all national human
rights institutions include appropriate attention to economic, social and
cultural rights and requests States parties to include details of both the
mandates and the principal relevant activities of such institutions in their
reports submitted to the Committee.
Annex
VI
A. LIST OF STATES PARTIES' DELEGATIONS WHICH PARTICIPATED IN THE
CONSIDERATION OF THEIR
RESPECTIVE REPORTS BY THE COMMITTEE ON
ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS AT ITS EIGHTEENTH SESSION
SRI LANKA Representative: Mr. Hewa S. Palihakkara
Ambassador
Permanent Representative
of Sri Lanka
to the United Nations Office
at Geneva
Advisers: Mr.
C. Maliyadde
Additional Secretary
Ministry of Plan Implementation
and Parliamentary Affairs
Ms. V. Jegarajasingham
Additional Secretary
Ministry of Social Services
Ms. Lalani Perera
Additional Secretary
Ministry of Justice
Ms. Aruni Wijewardena
Deputy Director
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Mr. Sudantha S. Ganegama Arachchi
First Secretary
Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka
to the United Nations Office
at Geneva
NIGERIA Representative: Mr. Christopher A. Osah
Minister, Chargé d'affaires
Permanent Mission of Nigeria
to the United Nations Office
at Geneva
Advisers: Mr.
Adamu Hassan
Counsellor
Permanent Mission of Nigeria
to the United Nations Office
at Geneva
Mr. Felix Onochie Idigbe
Counsellor
Permanent Mission of Nigeria
to the United Nations Office
at Geneva
Mr. Abdullah S. Ahmed
Labour Representative
Permanent Mission of Nigeria
to the United Nations Office
at Geneva
POLAND Representative: Ms. Irena Boruta
Under_Secretary of State
Ministry of Labour and
Social Policy
Advisers: Mr.
Krzysztof Jakubowski
Ambassador
Permanent Representative
of Poland to the
United Nations Office at Geneva
Mr. Krzysztof Drzewicki
Ambassador Plenipotentiary
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Mr. Michal Sobolewski
Director
Department for Health Care
Ministry of Health and
Social Security
Ms. Maria Dabrowska
Senior Expert, Legal Office
Ministry of Culture and the Arts
Ms.
Joanna Topinska
Senior Expert
Department of International
Cooperation
Ministry of National Education
Mr. Jerzy Ciechanski
Adviser to the Minister
Ministry of Labour and
Social Policy
Ms. Teresa Guzelf
Senior Expert
Ministry of Labour and
Social Policy
Ms. Zofia Neubauer
Senior Expert
Ministry of Labour and
Social Policy
Mr. Miroslaw Wajda
International Office
All_Poland Trade Unions Alliance
Mr. Remigiusz Achilles Henczel
Counsellor
Permanent Mission of Poland to
the United Nations Office
at Geneva
Mr. Jacek Tyszko
First Secretary
Permanent Mission of Poland to
the United Nations Office
at Geneva
NETHERLANDS Representative: Mr. P.C. Potman
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Advisers: Mr.
H.S. van Eyk
Ministry of Housing, Spacial
Planning and the Environment
Ms. C.J. Staal
Ministry of Social Affairs and
Employment
Ms. A. Goris
Ministry of Public Health,
Welfare and Sports
Mr. G. Corion
Bureau for Foreign Relations
Netherlands Antilles
B. LIST OF STATES PARTIES' DELEGATIONS WHICH PARTICIPATED IN THE
CONSIDERATION OF THEIR
RESPECTIVE REPORTS BY THE COMMITTEE ON
ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL
RIGHTS AT ITS NINETEENTH SESSION
ISRAEL Representative: Mr. David Peleg
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Permanent Representative
of Israel to the
United Nations Office at Geneva
Advisers: Mr.
Malkiel Blass
High Court Division
State Attorney's Office
Ministry of Justice
Mr. Michael Atlan
Head of Department
Office of the Legal Adviser
Ministry of Labour and
Social Affairs
Mr. Alexandre Galilee
Minister Counsellor
Deputy Permanent Representative
of Israel to the United Nations
Office at Geneva
Mr. Yuval Shany
Consultant to the Ministry of
Justice
Ms. Ady Schonmann
Office of the Legal Adviser
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
CYPRUS Representative: Mr. Petros Eftychiou
Ambassador
Permanent Representative
of the Mission
of Cyprus to the United Nations
Office at Geneva
Advisers: Ms.
Eleni Loizidou
Counsel of the Republic
Legal Department
Dr. Chrystalla Hadjianatasiou
Chief Medical Officer
Ministry of Health
Ms. Loulla Theodorou
Director of Social and Welfare Services
Ministry of Labour and Social Insurance
Mr. Tryphon Pneumaticos
Chief Education Officer
Department of Higher and Tertiary Education
Ministry of Education and Culture
Mr. Petros Kestoras
Deputy Permanent Representative
Mission of Cyprus to
the United Nations Office at Geneva
SWITZERLAND Representative: Mr. Jean_Jacques Elmiger
Ambassador, Chief of Delegation
Federal Office of Economic Development and Employment
Federal Department of Economic Affairs
Alternate: Ms.
Elisabeth Imesch
Chief of Section
Federal Office of Social Security
Federal Department of the Interior
Advisers: Ms.
Patricia Schulz
Director
Federal Bureau for Equality
between Women and Men
Federal Department of the Interior
Mr. Martin Büechi
Chief of Section
Federal Office of Public Health
Federal Department of the Interior
Ms. Nathalie Kocherhans
Scientific Officer
Federal Office of Economic Development and Employment
Federal Department of Economic Affairs
Ms. Eva Kornicker Uhlmann
Scientific Officer
International Public Law Division
Federal Department of Foreign Affairs
Ms. Maria Peyro
Scientific Officer
Federal Office of Economic Development and Employment
Federal Department of Economic Affairs
Mr. Martin Wyss
Scientific Officer
Federal Office of Justice
Federal Department of Justice and Police
Mr. Pierre Luisoni
Swiss Conference of Cantonal Directors of Public Education
Ms. Dominique Petter
First Secretary
Permanent Mission of Switzerland to the International Organizations in
Geneva
GERMANY Representative: Mr. Wilhelm Höynck
Ambassador, Permanent Representative
Mission of Germany to the
United Nations Office at Geneva
Advisers: Mr.
Dietrich Willers
Head of Division
Federal Ministry of Labour and
Social Affairs
Mr. Michael Schaefer
First Counsellor
Permanent Mission of Germany to
the United Nations Office at Geneva
Mr. Ulrich Weinbrenner
Assistant Head of Division
Federal Ministry of the Interior
CANADA Representative: Mr. Mark Moher
Chief of Delegation,
Ambassador and
Alternate Permanent Representative
Mission of Canada to the
United Nations Office at Geneva
Advisers: Mr. Kerry Buck
Deputy Director
Human Rights, Humanitarian
Affairs and International Promotion
of Women Directorate
Department of Foreign Affairs and
International Trade
Ms. Monique Charron
Director
Policy and Planning Division
Medical Services Branch
Health Canada
Mr. Normand Duern
Senior Officer
(International Instruments)
Human Rights Directorate
Heritage Canada
Ms. Johanne Levasseur
Counsel
Human Rights Law Section
Department of Justice
Mr. Robet Mundie
Assistant Director
Children's Task Team
Social Policy Directorate
Human Resources Development Canada
Ms. Marilyn Whitaker
Director
International Relations
Indian and Northern Affairs Canada
Observers: Mr.
Christian Deslauriers
Counsellor
Ministry of International Relations
Government of Quebec
Mr. Marco de Nicolini
Ministry of International Relations
Government of Quebec
Annex
VII
A. LIST OF DOCUMENTS OF THE COMMITTEE AT ITS EIGHTEENTH SESSION
B. LIST OF DOCUMENTS OF THE COMMITTEE AT ITS NINETEENTH SESSION
_____
* As adopted, to date, by the Committee on the Elimination of
Discrimination against Women and the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights.
* Adopted at its nineteenth
session (51st meeting), on 1 December 1998.
* Adopted at the nineteenth
session (51st meeting), on 1 December 1998.
[1]/ See E/1996/22, chap. I,
draft resolution (Annual sessions of the Committee on Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights).
2/ E/1991/23, annex IV.
3/ See E/1988/14, para. 361.
4/ E/1998/22, annex IV.
5/ E/1991/23, annex III.
6/ E/1992/23, annex III.
7/ See E/1994/23, paras. 90 to
121.
8/ E/1995/22, annex IV.
9/ Final report of the World
Conference on Education for All: Meeting Basic Learning Needs, Jomtien,
Thailand, 5_9 March 1990, Inter_Agency Commission (UNDP, UNESCO, UNICEF,
World Bank) for the World Conference on Education for All, New York, 1990,
appendix 1.
10/ See A/51/950, para. 161,
decision 10.
[COMMENT1]¬ (05/03/99) OK vér./CHo
[COMMENT2]¬ (05/03/99) OK vér./CHo
[COMMENT3]¬ (08/03/99) OK idem rapport 1997 p.111, *
[COMMENT4]¬ (08/03/99) OK ¶ 273
[COMMENT5]¬ (08/03/99) OK idem rapport 1997 p.111
[COMMENT6]¬ (08/03/99) OK ¶ 139
[COMMENT7]¬ (08/03/99) OK ¶ 300
[COMMENT8]¬ (08/03/99) OK idem rapport 1997 p. 111
[COMMENT9]¬ (08/03/99) OK ¶ 376
[COMMENT10]¬ (08/03/99) OK rapport 1997 p. 111
[COMMENT11]¬ (08/03/99) OK disque opt.
[COMMENT12]¬ (08/03/99) OK doc.
[COMMENT13]¬ (08/03/99) OK Autriche & Pays-Bas,
E/C.12/1997 p. 111, ***
[COMMENT14]¬ (08/03/99) OK rapport 1997, p. 111 **